Time of the Turning
by Dark Puck
Summary: Emotion. Loyalty. Betrayal. Wingless.
1. Prologue

_And the machines said, "Let there be light". And there was light, and the sun, moon and stars had purpose. But not all was good._

_In the time called Paradise, the constellations of stars were separate programs. However, they were not without faults, and began to jostle for more prominent positions in the sky. The System decided a radical change was needed before a full-on war broke out, and, with the creation of the second Simulation, attempted to delete all constellation programs, replacing them with a single program to govern the night sky._

_It started with very small changes. The constellation of Draco extended, creating another two stars to add to his already substantial length. The red star Aldebaran of Taurus shone brighter than Sirius of Canis Major for a time. Leo created a cluster of small stars to become a mane. Orion stretched taller._

_The competition escalated, until a constellation named Phoenix took it upon himself to control the arguments. His attempt was a success in that he cowed the others into submission by improving himself drastically, forming the perfect shape of a phoenix, the bird of fire, in the night sky. The new constellation of flaming red stars put the sketchy shapes of the others to shame._

_For a time, there was peace._

_It was not long before dissent returned to the Heavens. Lead by a pair of constellations, a group of programs banded together against the beautiful Phoenix, jealous of his graceful shape, and together they were able to physically eject him from the skies. The program's self image was distorted as he was repulsed, and his once proud flame-coloured wings were ripped from his back and remained in the sky as a much more subdued group of stars. The Phoenix fell, never to fly again. The constellations watched and henceforth referred to him as Wingless. Only two were sorry he had gone: the ever-watchful Virgo and her companion, Libra._

_This was the last straw for the System. Not much longer had passed before the new Night-Sky program was completed, and the constellations scheduled for deletion. As soon as word reached the programs, panic ensued, and the constellation of Cygnus was persuaded to seek out Wingless in the form of a swan for advice. _

_It was not Wingless he found, but an older, more experienced program named the Merovingian. He promised a safe haven for the Exiled constellations, as long as they in return swore to come to him as soon as they were informed of their uselessness. He had heard of the near war that had happened, and was intrigued to see how the stars would work for him. After all, he had the first Fallen One in his employment, and that had been an enormous success, beyond his expectations. Cygnus returned with the news, and the constellations agreed to seek the Merovingian._

_With the introduction of the One-Sky program, so too came the second Matrix._ _Instead of the Paradise, whose failure had taken a chunk out of the new crops of humans, another world was designed to replace it. This Earth has one government; one currency; one language. The other languages are allowed, but by law a child has to learn Standard. Currency is credits: pure and simple._

_The Exodus of the Heavens took place smoothly, but the stars' plan did not go as well. The System managed to round up the majority of the eighty-eight constellation programs, for there were few true Exiles at this time. Those who were caught returned dutifully to the Source. Only a handful of constellations survived, namely the nine original programs who expelled the Phoenix: Gemini, Leo, Lupus, Orion, Draco, Taurus, Cygnus, and Canis Major and Minor. The Nine Fallen Ones went directly to the Merovingian. Three others chose to break the promise Cygnus had made for them and wander: Sagittarius, Scorpius and Aries. Another two, Libra and Lynx, became separated from the main body of stars as they fell, and were lost from view. The beautiful Virgo, deeply troubled by the idea of returning to the Source, followed the Nine to the Merovingian._

_The former stars took new names, to go with their new identities and images. The Merovingian was pleased beyond belief with his new employees, and especially pleased with the soft-spoken Virgo, whom he married. She took the new name of Persephone. The old rivalries still existed between the constellations, and united under one command, there were significantly less full on fights and a sharp increase in petty bickering. _

_Wingless' nickname stuck, for he too had found work with the Merovingian and had become his favourite assassin, as well as official settler of debates. The other programs found a great respect for the fallen one, for he had beaten them into submission on numerous occasions when they would not let an argument drop. Nobody had ever seen him openly angry, but the fire that flew with his punches betrayed a quiet fury kept hidden. _

_Thus the first true Exiles came. And, for a time, it was good._

_

* * *

_

And thus begins _Time of the Turning_, a collaboration between myself and Quietly Making Noise. We hope you enjoy the ride.


	2. First

1

Persephone sat languidly next to her husband, recalling the events that had led her to this existence as an Exile of the System. As much as she had enjoyed her time in the sky, she enjoyed her time here more, with a man who loved her enough to wed her, though as programs they did not need to form such a binding contract. However, the Merovingian's Lady and mistress of his Château found herself missing Libra, a smallish program that had served as her attendant and guardian. She had never talked much with Libra, but had simply found comfort in her quiet presence amidst the bickering and fighting of the others.

The Merovingian sat beside his new wife, a quite satisfaction emanating from his person. He was immensely satisfied at this current time. The new codes had ensured the Château's safety from the reload; his new wife was tribute to this feat. The employment of so many new programs at one time could hardly have gone better. Their old rivalries still remained, obviously - the Merovingian did not condone the process of erasing memories.

Better these young upstarts learned from their mistakes, learned to control their tempers, of which they had in abundance. All except his Persephone, that is. He had never seen her perfect features so much as frown, and he bridled inwardly at the thought of anyone causing harm to her.

He turned to her now, savouring the rush that still flickered though him at the sight of her. "Is everysing to your satisfaction, _ma chérie_?" The female program smiled at him and nodded. "Yes, my love." She really was quite lucky to have met him. She shouldn't spend time wondering what had become of Libra; it was quite likely the girl had been deleted by Agents.

The Frenchman studied her carefully. There it was again, a flicker across her face. He leaned slightly towards her, isolating them from the steady hum of talk from the restaurant. "There is somesing, is there not? I would not have my love discontented." He pitched the tone of his voice perfectly, encouraging and trustworthy.

She sighed. "Yes, one thing, though likely there is nothing that could be done about it. In my time as the constellation 'Virgo', I was close to another program called 'Libra'. She appointed herself my attendant and guard, but vanished in the Exodus. I just miss her, husband."

The Merovingian leaned back in his seat and motioned gracefully for more wine. He took a small sip and carefully composed his reply. At this point in time, she was all that mattered, and if she would be happier with this 'Libra' around, so be it. "I will have this program sought out for you, if you so wish. " He spread his hands benevolently. "If you would feel safer, I am sure she can be found, alzough I am also sure there is no one 'ere that will 'arm you..."

"I am not concerned for my safety, my love," she assured him. "I am simply concerned about the fate of an old friend." She kissed him on the cheek, taking one hand in hers and squeezing it in a manner that promised a further show of gratitude later that day.

The Merovingian permitted himself a half smile at the display of affection, pressing his free hand over hers. "Tomorrow, z' search will begin. In z' meantime, what are your thoughts on zis place, my beauty?" He was interested in what she felt about the elegant restaurant, and in particular, the... unique architecture of the mountain château.

Persephone's eyes lit with happy interest, and she was off, telling him what she loved about the décor and the way everything was set up, as well as passing reference to the lovely shortcut between _Le Vrai _and the _château_. Her husband had excellent taste.

The afore-mentioned husband listened with half a mind, nodding where he deemed it polite. The rest of him concentrated on the task in hand. He caught himself wondering if this lost one would be as beautiful as Persephone, but quickly quashed the thought. He was _married_ now. With this thought his attentions went back to what she was saying, complementing the ingenious link between restaurant and château. He smiled. "It saves travel, does it not? And time is precious in our circumstances."

"Yes, and it makes it much harder for the System's Agents to catch us when we are travel between them," Persephone pointed out, eliciting a nod from the program now known as Jacob. Jacob was a strange one, quiet and observing all that went on with an emotionless mask.

"_Exactement_." The Merovingian paused, following his wife's eyeline to the former constellations. Gradually, his gaze swept over all nine of them, resting at last on the newly named Twins. He would have to organise them all into some sort of hierarchy if he was to halt this persistent, pointless bickering. Only this morning, "Wingless" had been forced to step in again, after the Wolf and the Hunter nearly de-fragmented each other. Those two were the worst for it.

The program again returned his gaze to his wife, and a charming smile replaced his calculating expression. "Would you care to join me in a dance, my love? My château has a splendid ballroom, which has yet to be utilised." She answered his smile with a beautiful one of her own. "Of course I would, husband," she answered, love shining in her brown eyes.

The Merovingian rose and extended a well-manicured hand to her. He had not danced for some time, and finally, he had a partner whom he truly loved. He had half a mind to change suits for something silken, but declined. Every second out of sight of his wife was painful. _However_, he thought, intense blue eyes sweeping her form. _She might appreciate a change of attire..._

Out loud he said smoothly, "I think a change of clothes is in order, don't you?" One eyebrow rose. "If we are to do zis properly, in any case." She offered him a small, coy smile. "I agree, my love. I have a... special dress I wished you to see as well."

* * *

_ten__ years later…_

The stars were fading from view as dawn light crept across the suburb. The hazy rays fell across a young man walking alone towards the town centre. It was a long walk, but Aries didn't have anything better to do. That and he'd lost Scorpius again. He was dreading finding the other program, dreading the verbal beating that was sure to follow. He pushed the rebellious fall of vibrant blond hair from his face and cast a glance upwards, easily picking out where he had once dwelt.

It was actually better down here, now that the Ram thought about it. Of course, he hadn't been continuously running from the System's Agents up there, but that in turn meant a lot more action_. Nothing like a good life or death struggle_, he told himself. _I like running._

_Not for your life, though_, came the reply. _Wonder what happened to Libra..._

Aries squashed the thought and concentrated on the pavement beneath his boots.

Gunfire rang out ahead of him, followed by the sound of running feet heading his way. The sound was attached to a rather familiar smallish figure being pursued by an Agent of the System.

The Ram's head snapped up, squinting down the long straight road. His heart leapt, but he forced himself to look closer before he jumped to conclusions. Yes, that silhouette was unmistakable. He felt a great rush of relief: it was Libra. She had survived the Fall. The identification of the figure pursuing her brought quite a different response.

"Shit..."

Libra ran as fast as her legs could carry her, cursing the semi-darkness that made her stand out against her surroundings. Her white boots pounded against the pavement as she pushed herself to greater speed, not truly caring if any humans saw her breaking the rules of this world. Only one thought was on her mind: Survival.

Pain pierced her back, but she phased before the bullet could lodge in her programmed heart, solidifying as soon as the bullet had passed. Every time she was forced to phase, the Agent gained a little more ground. She had already spent her bullets in a futile attempt to slow her pursuer down and so was reduced to running until one of them collapsed.

From the top of a building nearby, a tall athletic figure watched with a cold grey gaze. The program also recognised the pale figure running for her life, and the other one further up the street. He narrowed his eyes in disgust. Aries was far too nice for his liking. Scorpius tossed his head, flicking the long ponytail over his shoulder and inspecting the metal tip fastened to the end. Satisfied that it was securely attached, he cast a glance around for unwary humans, then launched himself off the building, his coats flapping like wings in the headwind. The former constellation had chosen an outfit much like the characters in a Japanese anime: a loose black dress shirt and commando-like trousers tucked into multi-strapped combat boots, with a long waistcoat and trench to match. He landed horizontally: his feet planted in the Agent's chest, his arms thrown back to give Libra a good shove. He slammed into the pavement and felt ribs splinter.

Aries' head shot up as he saw the figure in black leap from the top of the building, and he recognised the silhouette instantly. "Scorpius. Perfect timing, as usual." He launched himself forward into a sprint, aiming to get Libra as far away as possible while Scorpius dealt with the Agent...

Libra was certainly not prepared for a sudden shove and tumbled forward. She turned her ungraceful fall into a forward roll, coming to her feet and turning to see none other than Scorpius lying in a hole in the ground - one he'd made. The Agent had also landed on its feet, but had been distracted by Scorpius' arrival.

Her ears caught the sound of someone running closer. She whirled, ready to fight, only to be greeted by a familiar face under a familiar mop of golden hair. "Aries…?"

"Good morning, Libra. Are you good to run?" Not waiting for a detailed answer, he grabbed her arm and began running again, as fast as he dared. A glance behind revealed Scorpius grappling with the Agent. He released Libra's pale jacket and turned, slowing to a walk.

As he watched the tussle, Scorpius swung his head and his long hair came around like a whip and slashed the Agent's face cleanly across the middle. The tall program staggered away from the Agent, taking another stance immediately. "Insane as always," Libra muttered. "I don't think he'll need our help, Aries." She drew her empty gun and reloaded it, taking advantage of the distraction Scorpius had provided.

"You're right..." Aries shook his head a little. "I must be turning human. The word 'loyalty' popped into my head." He shrugged it off and turned around again, his own gun in his left hand.

Libra stole a sidelong glance at the young-looking blond. "Do you and Stinger-Tail have somewhere to meet up? Or are we running blind?"

"Last time we got separated we met up in the meadow behind this row of houses. I was waiting there all night for him, but he didn't show. Probably Agent-hunting again..." Disgust crept into Aries' tones as they ran, his long trench coat flapping around his ankles.

Scorpius couldn't stop a confident smile seeping onto his face. The Agent had not expected the assault from his 'tail', and it seemed to be annoyed at the fact. He glanced over his shoulder to see Libra and Aries making their escape, then turned his attention back to the Agent. "Y'know, I don't think I'll ever understand you lot."

The Agent glared at him, irritated because this Exile had caused him to bleed. "Nor will I understand your insistence on disobedience," he growled.

"It's quite fun actually," grinned the Scorpion. "Like a game. Why don't we play Chase, Agent?" He leapt up in a kick, which the Agent dodged easily, and took off running into the opposite direction from the two Exiles, planning his route. The Agent growled, turning back to his target only to find that she had run off. He waited for a second to get orders from the System, then ran after Scorpius.

Scorpius turned a left and dived down a back alley. His hair snaked about behind him and scratched the bricks, dulling the razor edge. He took out his annoyance on a clump of dustbins, kicking them viciously as he passed in a blur of black fabric. The bins spilled across the passageway, obscuring the route.

To the Agent, however, the path was easy to follow. He leapt over the spilled rubbish and continued his pursuit of the brown-haired program. Why did they always run? It was a futile effort; deletion was inevitable. These so-called Exiles should just accept that as their fate and submit.

Scorpius shot down another alleyway, scaring a feral cat so its fur bushed up. He focused, found the rule for gravity, and snapped it in two, propelling himself up in a series of wall jumps. He landed easily on the flat roof of a fast food restaurant and kept running. The Agent was several feet behind him but gaining steadily, using his programming to take the leap to the restaurant in one go. He almost didn't make it, but pulled himself back up and resumed the chase.

"Shit," murmured Scorpius, a glance behind telling him exactly what he didn't want to know. A sudden playful thought entered his head, and he wondered if Agents could swim. He diverted from his course, streaking across a quiet main road, and across a playing field. The leisure centre basked in the morning sunlight, and the lower windows were hazy, revealing the still waters of a swimming pool within. Scorpius put on an extra burst of speed and leapt, throwing his arms above his head. He shot through the window like a bullet, controlling his fall and diving into the chilly water.

The Agent stopped dead, watching the program in the water. Maybe the Exile had hit its head and would drown in the pool. That would make his job much easier.

Scorpius had wisely taken a breath before his entry to the water, and he sank to the bottom, counting the seconds. His attire had soaked up the water instantly and become several pounds heavier as a result. His scorpion-tail drifted on level with his head, the barb making a strange, metallic whispering sound as it cut through the water. His chest was growing tighter with each second, and he began to space-walk through the water to the near edge, hoping the wall below the broken windows would cover him.

The Agent waited several minutes, then received word from the System that he was needed elsewhere. He abandoned his host to take one near the new scene, leaving behind a rather confused whore who had no idea how she had come to be on the opposite end of town, or why her face was bleeding.

Scorpius' breath wouldn't hold any longer, and he surfaced as slowly as he could. An alarm was throbbing, but there was nobody in sight save a scantily-clad woman bleeding from a slash across her face. Scorpius heaved a great sign of relief and pulled himself out of the pool, dripping heavily. He resisted the urge to wolf-whistle the prostitute and began walking back to the suburb.

"Follow me." Aries twisted off the pavement and vaulted a fence; the occupants of the house still asleep, in more ways than one.

Libra trailed slightly behind Aries; his legs were longer than hers. "Stinger-Tail hunts them? He _is_ suicidal!"

"He gets bored easily. Too easily." Aries slowed to allow the smaller program to catch up, climbing the tall fence that separated the neat garden from the wild long grasses of the meadow. He dropped down and landed in a crouch, listening for sounds of pursuit.

"Yeah, that sounds like him," Libra said, kneeling beside Aries and catching her breath. "And without Sagittarius to keep him in line, he's probably wrecking all kinds of havoc, right?" She smiled at the blond.

"He certainly is." Aries stood up and started walking, taking bigger strides to compensate for the uneven terrain. A steady breeze ruffled his hair, sending the blond wisps in all directions. "There's a small woodland patch just over that hill. Agents don't seem to like the natural world very much."

"Nothing about this world is natural," Libra muttered, trotting to keep up with Aries.

"Of course... That's what I meant." Aries forced himself not to blush. Libra turned her head to flash the other program a quick grin as they continued along their path. He caught the grin, which only made his blush intensify. He coughed a little and led the way. As they crested the hill, a small copse of scrawny trees and over-zealous ferns came into view, the image stuttering very slightly. Aries made a sound of approval. "Aha! I thought it was glitched! That explains why the system doesn't like it. We'll definitely be safe here."

Libra grinned. "I love the glitches," she admitted, "especially when children discover them. It's amusing to watch them play, to see them pushing the limits without realising it."

Aries nodded, "Yeah. Do you think the humans will ever realise they are perpetually dreaming?"

Libra shrugged. "More than likely. You remember the Paradise that wasn't, right? Several humans refused the lie, so the Matrix was reconfigured to this. The System probably has a few kinks to work out still. Besides," and here she smirked, "the System has to deal with _us_ now."

Aries' mischievous grin slipped easily onto his face. "Oh yes. Here..." He ducked under a low hanging branch, pushing the foliage out of the way to reveal a small clearing of trampled grass and soil; branches broken out of the way. "And now we wait, I'm afraid."

"Hopefully Stinger-Tail won't forget to pick you up," Libra muttered. She had never been fond of the Scorpion.

She looked over at the Ram. "So what have you been up to since the Fall?"

"What haven't we been up to, more like." He sighed quietly, sitting down cross-legged in the small clearing. "The Scorpion has always liked to cause trouble, as you know. Now we're down here, he Agent-hunts, as I said, and exploits glitches. I managed to persuade him not to set this one on fire. " Aries gestured to the image of the woodland. To illustrate the glitch, he picked up a twig and flicked either end as one would a coin, so that it revolved in mid air.

Libra knelt, watching the twig rotate, before looking into Aries' hazel eyes. "Why do you stay with him?" she asked curiously. "I don't remember you two being all that close when we were still skybound."

Aries considered the question. "Because there's no one else, I suppose. Except Sagittarius, but she's more human than program now."

Libra blinked in surprise. "What do you mean? How could she be human?"

"She's set up a horse training school in England." Aries shifted and looked directly at her. "Her shell is definitely human, and she dresses like they do and everything. Never breaks any rules. The System seems to be leaving her alone because of her lack of trouble causing."

"Only the Archer… a horse training school, huh? Certainly sounds like her."

"Always different. I wish she was here - she would have kept a better eye on Scorpius than I do." He extended his long legs and scuffed the dirt with the tips of his boots, staring up through the branches.

"It's you who needs keeping an eye on, Ram. Flirting like that! Shameless..." With a snide smile, Scorpius pushed his way roughly past the ferns and observed the two Exiles. His clothes were the deeper colour of wet fabric, and he dripped occasionally.

Libra arched a pale eyebrow at him. "Have a nice dip, Stinger-Tail?" she asked as she rose to her feet, tossing her white braid behind her. "What'd you do, drown the Agent in a lake?"

"Nearly. My theory that Agents cannot swim still lacks proof, unfortunately." He flicked his ponytail over his shoulder and wrung it out, carefully avoiding the barb. "What were you doing playing Chase, anyway?" He chose to ignore Aries closing his eyes in exasperation.

Libra shrugged. "Someone tried to mug me. I took care of the problem, but a bystander saw me phase. Next thing I know, there's an Agent telling me that deletion is my only option. I didn't agree, so I bolted."

"Yeah, they seemed to be programmed with that phrase. Wonder if there's a code for it..." His bright eyes glazed over, but he was interrupted from his thoughts by Aries.

"No way. You are not going to go extracting things from Agents. That's suicide."

"Right, like Stinger-Tail would roll over and die because of an Agent?" Libra muttered. "No way. He wouldn't be able to annoy me that way."

"What would you do with the code, anyway?" added Aries.

Scorpius stared pointedly at him. "Oh I don't know, spring it on people who annoy me, I suppose."

"Cut the scary act, Stinger-Tail," Libra yawned, "you're not intimidating anyone."

Scorpius glared at her, then snatched a falling leaf from the air and created a small sapling by blowing on it. He threw the tiny tree away, which sailed through the forest on a straight trajectory and disappeared from view. "So, Libs, what are we going to do with you?"

"Tell me if you've seen Virgo anywhere?" she suggested helpfully.

"Virgo?" Aries sat up. "Haven't seen her since the Fall."

Scorpius ran his tongue over his lips. "Aaah, Virgo..." Aries stretched out and kicked his ankle, and he snapped out of his daydream. "Ow! Didn't she tag along with the rest of them?"

"To the Mero-thingy, you mean?"

"It's Merovingian, Ram. And yeah, that's what I meant."

Libra filed the name away in her memory, then asked, "And do you know where this Merovingian is?" She smiled sweetly, hoping to coax more info from them.

Scorpius cocked a brow. "You _want_ to find him?"

"No, I want to find Virgo," Libra answered. "If she's with him, then obviously I have to find him too, right?"

Aries eyed her, pushing his fringe out of his face for the nth time. "I think he's in the mountains somewhere."

"But there's a club in the city," put in Scorpius. "And a restaurant."

"We could take you if you're that desperate," offered Aries, hope lighting his face. Libra smiled gently at the eager young man before turning her head back to Scorpius. "Not that I'd want you to go out of your way for me, Stinger-Tail," she added, in a tone of voice that indicated that that was exactly what she wanted him to do.

Scorpius shot a seething glance at the Ram that hinted of verbal beating later on. "Okay, okay. Just don't fall behind like last time." The eyebrow rose again, directed at Aries, who glared at the leaves before standing and brushing himself off.

"Come on then."

"Not so fast, blondie. I know where we're going, and I fancy Club Hel as a meeting place." Scorpius' tone became sing-song like, as though he were addressing a child. "The club only opens at 21:00 hours, so we have a day to kill first."

Aries flopped back down onto the leaves with a loud, exasperated sigh.

* * *

_And that's it for chapter one. This is a long piece QMN and I have been working on for over a year now, so don't expect to see the end any time in the near future._

_As a side note, this fic will be using UK spelling, as you may have noticed. This is because QMN is British and I simply prefer UK spelling. Any reviews complaining that there is no 'u' in 'honour', for example, will be thusly ignored. Constructive criticism is strongly encouraged and certainly accepted. Liked it? Hated it? For the love of whatever deity you hold dear, please tell us _why

_This is Dark Puck, signing off._

_Time: 0041_

_Music: _Der Herr der Schatten_, E Nomine_


	3. Second

2

* * *

"All right, class, that's it for the day," said a young woman mounted on a black Arabian gelding. "Your parents should be along to pick you up shortly." She led the small class - perhaps eight or nine students - back towards the stables, dismounting with them so she could groom Rashid.

"Miss Calloway, she won't stand still," complained one of her younger students, who was also trying to groom his horse.

Chuckling, Terri Calloway walked to the youngster's stall and held his mare still while he groomed her. "Don't forget, Dean, that you have to make sure she knows who's boss," she told him after he was done. By now, most of the parents had arrived, leaving one student behind after the horses were taken care of.

The girl, Arin, stood by the stall, petting her horse's nose absently. A few minutes passed, then she shook herself out of her thoughts. She moved across to where the riding equipment hung on the wall beside the stall and fingered the bridle, again off in her own world. Terri watched Arin curiously. The girl certainly was a daydreamer, but when she focused… wow. She had been subtly encouraging the girl to push the limits, watching her with keen interest. Arin had definite potential.

The girl stepped away from the stall, stretching her arms over her head with all her fingers extended. She finished her stretch with a contented sigh and turned around to face Terri, a bright smile on her face. "Thank you for the lesson, Miss Calloway."

"My pleasure, Arin," Terri grinned. "I like seeing what you can do. You have real potential."

"Thanks. My last riding teacher didn't seem to think so..." She fell silent for another moment, and then came to. "I suppose I'd better get going. Angela will probably kill me if I'm home late again."

"Yeah… and it's starting to rain. Why not come inside while you wait for your ride to show up?" Terri offered.

Another shy smile appeared on Arin's face. "Thank you"

"It's no problem, kiddo," she told the younger girl, leading her to the ranch-style house and showing her inside. "Don't want you getting sick from the constant rain. You hungry?"

"Yeah, I am." Arin stood awkwardly in the middle of the front room, turning to look at each wall. She pulled off her hard hat and looped it onto her arm, ruffling her short dark hair back into spikes. Her gaze fell to her boots, and she shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Miss Calloway?"

"What is it, Arin?" Terri asked, looking back at her.

Arin was staring at the rain dribbling down the window. "Do the horses mind having the bit in their mouths?"

Terri blinked. "They might mind, a little bit. Why do you ask?"

"It just seems a little cruel, to me. If I could, I'd ride bareback and tell the horse where to go. But I can't - not yet anyway." She sighed pensively, and would have said more on the subject if she hadn't been struck with an incredible sense of déjà-vu.

The door from the adjacent room opened suddenly.

Arin stared at the Chinese man who had appeared. His clothing struck her the most - fiery red jacket in Mandarin style with loose trousers to match and a black tank top. His hair was dyed a mixture of reds and oranges, giving the impression that his head was on fire.

"Miss Calloway!"

Terri turned, and her eyes widened. "Wingless…," she whispered, staring at him, the look on her face a mix of anger and fear. With almost superhuman speed, she was between her student and the Chinese man. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Peering around her teacher, Arin saw the Chinese man grin slightly. "Surely you did not think you could hide as a human, Sagittarius?" His voice was accented, the tone disdainful. Why was he calling Miss Calloway 'Sagittarius'? And why 'hide as a human'? Curiosity took over her initial alarm at his appearance.

"Keep your mouth shut, Wingless!" Terri hissed. This was the last thing she needed, especially with young Arin there. "Explain yourself or get the hell out of my house."

"Very well." Wingless stepped to the right to observe Arin, his gaze hidden behind circular sunglasses. "A certain… someone wishes to see you. You know the name - by the agreement you were supposed to go directly to him, but _you_ did not."

Terri stepped to her left to block Wingless' view of Arin. "Some agreements were meant to be broken."

"Others, maybe, but not this one." Wingless' mouth curved in a smile, and the hair on Arin's neck stood up. "I am here to take you to him. Whatever the cost." Arin narrowed her eyes and glared at him. Wingless pressed one fist against the other palm, taking his time about it.

"Arin, hide. _Now_," Terri ordered, dropping back into a defensive stance. If the girl was hurt, she'd never forgive herself.

Arin obeyed without properly thinking about it, scampering like a mouse to the door and darting through. Her footsteps could be heard thumping up the stairs, but out of view of the front room she removed her boots and crept silently back down. She peered carefully around the doorframe, just in time to see Wingless execute a double-roundhouse, followed by a myriad of punches and kicks, the like of which she had never seen before.

Terri was hard-pressed to block his attacks, feeling an emotion she'd not felt since the Fall: Fear. She was no match for the Phoenix and they both knew it. She would do what she could to protect Arin, but she knew this battle would be ultimately lost. She allowed the momentum of his final blow to send her flying backwards, using the thrust to propel her back into her trademark back walkover, slamming her boot into Wingless' chin as she went.

He too utilised the momentum from the kick, flipping over and replicating the move perfectly. Arin's eyes widened. Her riding teacher knew kung-fu? 'Wingless' could mirror people? She pinched herself to make sure this wasn't some kind of horrible dream, drawing back against the doorframe as Wingless went on the defensive, skipping backwards towards her.

He moved so fast she didn't have time to blink. One arm shot out, round, and grabbed her. He twisted her forwards with a practised movement and locked his arm around her throat. Arin struggled and kicked, but without her boots it was useless. "Stop fighting, Sagittarius, and I'll release her."

Terri froze. "Let her go, Wingless; she's got nothing to do with this!"

Wingless smirked. "She has everything to do with you, by the look of it." His face was expressionless apart from cold enjoyment.

* * *

"Fraggin' rain," muttered a young man as he pulled up to the riding school, parking the car and getting out. Screw it if Arin's step-mum didn't want him around her, he wasn't leaving the kid to go home in the rain. He wasn't _that _bad an influence, anyway.

He tried the door and found that it was open. From inside he could hear voices, specifically Calloway's, demanding that someone let "her" go. There could be only one "her" that the riding instructor was referring to. Eyes narrowed, he reached into his bomber jacket to remove a slender throwing knife, which he flipped to the ready as he silently stalked towards the location of the voices. _Hang in there, kid…_

Arin judged her moment and rammed her sharp elbow into Wingless' gut. His grip loosened, and she slipped out from under his arm and cannoned away to the adjacent wall. "Leave Miss Calloway alone! Why do you call her Sagittarius?"

Wingless stared at her. "That is none of your business." His gaze flicked up suddenly to the opposite doorway, then back to the riding instructor. Quick as lightning, he performed a wall run, and span out of it with a kick to her skull. The dark woman hit the ground hard, barely retaining consciousness. She struggled to her feet, but Wingless was waiting for her. He slammed his fist into her solar plexus; her eyes widened as all the air was pushed from her lungs, then she passed out and slumped over his waiting arm.

A hand reached out and snatched Arin's shoulder, dragging her back behind the owner - Cue! Arin nearly resisted Cue's pulling, thinking to launch herself at 'Wingless', but the rational side of her mind kicked in, and she darted around the doorway. "We have to help Miss Calloway, _niisan_!" she hissed, her eyes wide.

"Stay here," he ordered her, stepping around the corner and letting his blade fly straight into Wingless' shoulder, drawing a second knife as the first left his hand.

The impact knocked Wingless off balance, and the riding instructor's limp form slid to the floor. The Chinese man picked himself up and yanked out the throwing knife, ducking under the next projectile and launching the blade back. Arin involuntarily jerked back behind the corner as the blade flashed past her face and became embedded in the doorjamb, quivering.

Cue advanced carefully on Wingless, a third, larger blade in his hand, this one intended for fighting rather than throwing. "What on earth do you think you're doing?" sneered Wingless. The blood streaming down his jacket was barely visible, and didn't seem to be affecting him at all. Arin blanched.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Cue sneered back, bravado bolstering him. He could see that if it came down to a fight, the Chinese man would most certainly kick his ass, but he wasn't going to let a kidnapping occur without trying to prevent it.

"To me, it seems you have a death wish," answered Wingless flatly. "However I have no time for this. Challenge me and die." With this sinister warning, he grabbed Terri's prone body again and hoisted it easily. Arin displayed her sense of timing again, this time with a well-aimed china ornament. The seraphim smashed against Wingless' skull, and he stumbled again with a low curse.

Cue took his chance, leaping for Wingless and trying to get Calloway away from him, perhaps stupidly sheathing the blade so as not to inadvertently hurt the unconscious woman. Recovering swiftly, Wingless saw his spring coming, just in time to lash out with his right foot. The kick connected and thudded into Cue's stomach, throwing him halfway across the room. "Do not waste my time." Cue rolled to his feet somewhat slowly, ready for more if need be. He didn't advance, but he also made sure that he was between the stranger and Arin.

Arin realised there was no hope in hell of them actually making any headway against the martial artist. She tugged Cue's bomber jacket. "Cue, let's get out of here. We can call the police or something."

Wingless heard her and turned again from his position near the window. "You will not call anybody."

"And how are you going to stop us?" retorted the girl.

"I have ways..." Wingless let Terri's body down a second time and stalked towards Arin, his gaze predatory. Finding Cue in the way, he pressed a fist against his palm again. Arin's eyes went wide, but before she could warn him, Wingless released a brutal combo.

Cue yelled in pain as he was slammed backwards from the multiple kicks and punches, somehow managing to get back on his feet after the assault ended, keeping between Wingless and Arin. He was swaying on his feet and his face was contorted in pain, but he had another knife in his hand as he stood his ground. He'd _die_ before he let this bastard hurt Arin, and his brown eyes conveyed this message clearly.

Wingless paused, a sardonic smile cresting his face. "Had enough?"

Arin had had enough. "_Niisan_! Let's call the police!"

Wingless turned his gaze on her again. "Go ahead, little one, before I despatch your 'big brother,' as you call him. At least one of you has an ounce of sense." He seized the wrist of Cue's knife hand. "And you, my friend, will pay for your interference." Gripping the joint tightly, he twisted until the bone snapped with a dull click. The knife fell from the young man's fingers and Arin shrieked in horror.

Cue followed his knife to the ground, clutching his broken wrist and glaring daggers at the Chinese man. Normally, he would have made some vaguely threatening comment… but he could sense that somehow, this man would not be overly concerned. He could also sense that if he challenged this man again, it would result in death. His.

Wingless grinned again, replacing Terri over his shoulder. He drew a small key from around his neck, unlocked the door leading to the kitchen and opened it. Arin gasped. She caught a glimpse of a plain white corridor with a dull coloured door opposite, then Wingless obscured her view and was gone, the door clicking closed behind him.

Arin raced across and flung open the door, but instead of the corridor was the kitchen. A plate fell off a shelf as the door banged.

Angry and confused, she crossed the room to Cue. "Come on, big brother. We need to get your wrist sorted."

He shook his head. "Cops first, then wrist," he managed to say. "This is a crime scene, and our kidnapper left evidence behind. I want to know who that man is."

Arin scowled, but she knew he was right. A bubble of helplessness was welling up inside her, clouding her eyes with tears. She was so tired... "There's a phone in the hall. Shall I ring?"

He nodded, fumbling for his wallet. Unless he wanted to be in serious trouble, he figured it'd be better if he had his licence for concealed weaponry out when the cops arrived. With another worried glance back to him, Arin went to the phone and dialled. She spoke briefly, answering questions as they came. She hung up and came back. "They're on their way. I dunno what I'm going to tell Angela... I should have been home an hour ago."

"I'll have one of the cops write you a note. Or, better yet, blame it on me. Your step-mum would probably panic if she knew what just happened." He did an admirable job keeping his pain out of his face and voice; he didn't want to worry her.

"I don't want to blame it on you, Cue. But you're right, she would panic. Probably ban me from riding..." Arin sat down next to him, drawing her knees to her chin. He wrapped his uninjured arm around her shoulders, hugging her.

"Just say I got caught in traffic, or something." Cue's mind was racing; he wasn't sure if the Chinese man was the type to leave loose ends like two witnesses lying around. Possibly he wouldn't care, but Cue was concerned for Arin's sake; the girl was only twelve years old.

Arin leant against him, taking the comfort she always felt when around her friend. Cue was her self-appointed big brother, much to her step mother's disagreement, and she liked him intensely. The knife-slinging young man had attached himself to her the night after her mother disappeared, and Arin always found comfort and security in his presence.

Sirens wailed in the distance, and she picked herself up and went to the window. The rain had lessened to a steady drizzle, and due to the lack of streetlights in the outer city, it was completely dark outside. Cue managed to stagger to his feet and wandered to the door, eyeing where Wingless had thrown his knife. He let out a low whistle, it was in there _deep_.

"What're you looking at?" The girl looked up from her position crouched over the shattered seraph. She was using her index finger to poke the pieces into what she deemed the right position.

"My knife." He looked back at her. "You probably shouldn't touch that; this whole room counts as a crime scene."

"I never thought I'd be standing in a 'crime scene'." Arin stood up and stretched, emitting a yawn. "I suppose my riding lessons are off until they get Miss Calloway back, so it won't really matter if I annoy Angela now. Can I stay at your house tonight?"

"No, kid, I'm sorry. I'm going out later tonight, and I do have to get my wrist mended. I'm sure you don't want to hang out in the hospital for hours, do you?"

"Not really." She peered at his injured wrist. "Does it hurt a lot?"

"No," he lied.

Arin gave him a Look, and turned back to the window. The blue lights of British police vehicles were meandering up the winding road to the ranch. "Police are here, Cue."

"Good. Then we can give them our statements and get the hell out of here."

"What do we do, just tell them what happened?" Arin moved back to his side and clutched his good hand, suddenly nervous.

"And answer their questions. Mine might take awhile, as I am armed." He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"I hope 'Wingless' doesn't come back. He scared me..." A loud knocking made her whisper her last sentence.

_Me too, kid_, he thought looking down at her before going to let the cops in. _Me too_.

* * *

The clock on the dash read 22:36 as Cue drove Arin home. The black Corvette was the only vehicle around the winding country roads at this time of night, and the headlights illuminated hedges lining the road. Arin sat up straighter and glimpsed the speckled lights which indicated the city drawing closer. She yawned again, cracking her jaw. "Ow… I'm so tired…"

"Get some sleep then, kid. I know where you live, getting you home will be no problem," Cue replied, ignoring the throb in his right wrist. Good job he fought with both hands; his shifting hand had been spared.

Arin closed her eyes briefly, but images kept flashing into her head. "Can't sleep, Cue. There's too much stuff going on in my head. I keep thinking about that strange man in the suit and sunglasses who came with the police."

Cue growled low in his throat. "He was _way_ too interested in that Wingless fellow." He didn't trust suits, so he'd withheld the name of the kidnapper. …But Arin wouldn't have known to…

"Arin… you didn't tell them his name, did you?"

There was a silence from the passenger seat. Arin was biting her lip. "I think I did…"

He sighed. "All right, it isn't your fault. I'm probably just paranoid."

"I'm sorry, _niisan_." Arin stared out of the window. Speaking Japanese always reminded her of her mother. Lack of practise had dwindled her grasp of the language to a few phrases and words, enough to get by if she ever decided to go there. Her reflection in the car window stared back at her: her mother's Oriental features imprinted on her Caucasian father's face shape.

"Don't be sorry. I forgot to mention you should probably keep that from them. My bad, not yours."

Arin smiled. "So, can I stay at your house tonight?"

He hesitated. "Yeah. I'd prefer you to be where I can protect you. We just have to make a stop first."

"Yeah, I'd better phone Angela and tell her. Can I use one of your T-shirts for a nightie again?" Arin looked at him and added, "You have to get your wrist sorted, too."

"I can get it taken care of where we're going. I'd rather be careful tonight. And yes, you can. Here," he somehow managed to get his cell phone to her, "give her a ring."

Arin took it and dialled her home. She winced as her step mother loosed off a round of ranting. "Angela, I'm staying at Cue's house tonight. Don't expect me back until tomorrow lunchtime. … Well I don't know what exact time! … I'm going somewhere with him. … No it's not a date! I've got about six credits. … Whatever. Bye." Arin flushed. "She thinks it's a date…"

Cue twitched. "What the hell does she think I am, a paedophile?" he demanded.

"I dunno; don't blow off on me!" Arin slipped the phone into the glove compartment until Cue could retrieve it safely. "She just doesn't like you."

"No kidding." Cue grumbled a bit under his breath before pulling up to the pub. "Stay here, and stay out of sight. This shouldn't take long; I'm not playing tonight."

"Okay." Arin handed him his phone back and crouched down in the space in front of the seat, settling herself quite comfortably in the small space. She retrieved her notebook and pencil from her pocket and began drawing.

Cue entered the pub, waiving his usual drink and the normal challenges. There was one man he wanted to see, and if that man was not here, he would be most upset.

In the far corner, someone was being beaten up with words. It was being done very quietly and subtly, the antagonist being a tall man dressed in many black layers. He finished his verbal battering and dismissed the skinny young man with a clip around the ears, examining something in his hand before pocketing it. He moved back to his table in the corner and put his feet up.

Good, he _was_ here. Cue slipped to the back and pulled a chair out, sitting in front of his 'contact' - the link the cops didn't know he had. "What do you know about someone called Wingless?" he asked without preamble. He needed information, and he needed it now.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?" He took his feet down and leaned over, motioning for the human to lower his voice.

"He kidnapped the girl's riding instructor. Plus one of the Suits showed up at the scene to question us."

"Did he mention any motive?" asked Scorpius urgently.

"Wingless? If he did, I wasn't there to hear it. I came late to the party, the girl was there the whole time. That's why I need to know."

Scorpius paused. "He's the right hand man of a very powerful person. I don't think he'd be after the kid, if that's what you're worried about. Wingless is… easy to anger."

"I'd noticed," Cue drawled, displaying the wrist Wingless had snapped.

His contact looked at the swollen wrist, then back to him. "Tell me you haven't provoked him."

"Mommy doesn't like it when I lie."

Scorpius didn't smile. "You're in shit, Cue. Deep shit."

"I guessed. Well, I suppose it was inevitable. Just tell me what I need to know to keep her safe."

"Your 'sister' should be fine, as long as she hasn't tried anything on him." Scorpius leaned in. "If both of you retaliated, you'd be best running. Wingless never forgets. I'm still avoiding him for something that happened a long time ago."

Cue remembered the thrown seraph and winced. "Fuck. We talking leaving the city, or going halfway around the world and living in a cave on some remote island?"

"Leaving the city should be enough, for the moment. If he shows up again, then option number two. That boy is one of the most dangerous people I know of." _And now he's got Sagittarius… What have we got Libs into?_

"Great," Cue muttered. "The Wicked Witch of the West is gonna _love_ this. So the broken wrist was promise of reprisal rather than _the_ reprisal, is that it?"

"Most likely." Scorpius thought for a second. "If you're going to need help I'll be able to arrange something." If Aries got back from taking Libra to the Merovingian sometime tonight, he'd send him to fetch Cue and his girl tomorrow morning. Assuming Wingless hadn't done his homework.

"In the meantime," Cue asked, his voice lowering even more, "do you have anything long-range? If I'm slipping back into that world, I'll need a gun." He hated doing it, but he had to, for Arin's sake. At least he knew that if need be, he could kill - he'd done it before, after all…

A sly grin slipped easily onto his contact's face. "How big?"

"Concealable. Feds find out, they'll re-chip me faster than a rabbit breeds."

"Just the thing. These babies just came in." Scorpius reached into an inside pocket and withdrew a pair of small, black handguns. "For you, I'll let 'em go for six hundred and fifty."

"Screw you, highway robber," Cue muttered, reaching for his wallet. "You saw me at the pool tables, didn't you?" Ordinarily, he would haggle, but he didn't have the time or patience for that.

The grin widened. "As paranoid as ever. Your pool playing reminds me of the way a cat plays with a mouse. You toy with the opposition, then kill them slowly."

Cue shrugged as he passed the money over. "It'd be boring if I went full-on right away. Plus I'd be kicked out 'cause I'm a shark."

"Fair enough. Thank you, sir Cue." The money changed hands, and Cue was the proud owner of two brand new SIG P228's. Cue nodded to Scorpius and slipped back outside. Getting into the Corvette, he sat for a moment, then slumped over the wheel.

"Are you all right?" Arin popped her head up and eyed him. "You haven't fixed your wrist yet..." she chided.

"I'm fine," he said quietly, turning his head to her. "I'll take care of it when we get home."

His little sister pulled herself back onto the seat and closed her sketchbook. "Are you sure? You look..." She paused to find the right words. "You look like you don't know what to do."

"I don't," he said quietly, almost to low for her to hear. He turned the key in the ignition and drove off. He wouldn't tell her about the guns. Not yet.


	4. Third

3

* * *

Libra had heard of the Hel Club's reputation and had changed accordingly, trading her white leathers in for black and forgoing her trench coat entirely. She couldn't help but notice that Aries seemed nervous. "You don't have to come in with me," she told him quietly, reaching up to grasp his shoulder reassuringly. 

"No, that's all right. I'll come." The contact only added to his unease. If he was recognised, he would be lost. Working for the Merovingian was preferable to deletion, but Aries was unwilling to commit himself, in spite of the promise he had made whilst sky-bound. His attire change had been so drastic as to even change his hair colour. He was now garbed similarly to Libra, his hair a gelled sweep of jet black.

"If you're certain," she told him with a small smile, leading him into the elevator. At the bottom, she obediently handed her matched Springfields to the program in charge of the weapons check, hoping Aries wouldn't cause a fuss over the no weapons rule.

Aries managed to stop his hands trembling as he handed his twin guns over. He was sad to see the Colts go, but he wanted to make a good impression. Who knew, after she saw the Frenchman he might have a chance...

Libra took his arm and led him down the stairs into Hel. She kept a carefully blank expression on her face as they waded through the gyrating humans, her face betraying none of her irritation at the pounding "music". "Which one is the Merovingian?" she whispered to Aries.

"On the low balcony," muttered the Ram. "See the older guy in the black suit?" He was careful not to look for more than half a second glances.

Libra's eyes flicked up for a moment before returning to her companion. "Yes. That's him?"

"Yep." Aries looked directly at her. "To be honest, I have no desire at all to go up there." He berated himself mentally. _Coward..._

"I'll be fine," she told him, her hand running down his arm to take his hand and squeeze it. "I probably won't be down for awhile, so you can go back to Stinger-Tail if you want. Take care." With that, she made her way through the dancing crowd, heading for the spiral steps towards the man who would lead her to Virgo.

Aries watched her go, his heart sinking. _Shit... Now you've blown it._ A couple knocked into him, and he elbowed them back tetchily. He kept his eyes on Libra until her small form was out of sight in the near-orgy, then ducked down and vanished from view, weaving back to the coat check and the relative safety of the street.

Libra went up the stairs, expecting at any moment to be challenged. Sure enough, identical forms blocked her path upwards. Two tall ghost-white men looked down at her and leered simultaneously. "What have we here?" said one, a hissing behind his voice.

She glared back at them. "Castor, Pollux, lovely to see you two again," she said softly, her voice heavy with sarcasm. Despite their similarity in appearance, Libra was not fond of Gemini, and they were not fond of her.

"The pleasure is ours." The whisper cut through the noise as though the Twin was shouting.

"We assume you are here to see him?" asked the other, arching a pale eyebrow slightly.

"Why else would I be here?" she replied, mirroring his expression.

"To dance," put in the second one.

"We have never seen the Scales move," quipped the first.

"And you won't ever," she told him. "Now get out of my way."

They made a sound of disapproval. "Ask nicely now. Surely the Fall didn't burn off your manners?"

"I have only displayed manners around Virgo and Phoenix, and both of you know it." Much more of this and she would phase through them.

"Ah, then you are here to return to your mistress?"

"Like a dog," added the other one. It was impossible to tell them apart. "Very well, we will escort you to him."

"Follow."

She snarled quietly, but followed them. The dog comment rankled, she'd have to get them back.

The Twins led her across and parted like a mirror image to reveal the Merovingian swilling a cocktail and staring absently over the humans. He looked around as the movement caught his gaze, and his eyes ignited. "Well, well, what 'ave we 'ere?"

Hmm, a French accent. Interesting. She could tell immediately that this man would demand respect, therefore she would give it to him from the start. She offered a short bow and answered quietly, "I am called Libra."

He seemed to recognise the name, uncrossing his legs and sitting up a little straighter. "Is zat so?" A pause; his head tilted upwards slightly. "Am I right in thinking that you came 'ere to... return?"

"If what I have been told is true, then yes."

The Merovingian laughed briefly. "Zen this will make more time for me to execute some ozer commands. I am told you, ah... protected z' constellation Virgo when you were sky-bound, correct?"

Libra nodded; it had been common knowledge that the Scales had assigned herself the task of guarding the Maiden.

"And you want to resume your purpose?" One eyebrow rose.

Wary, she nodded once more.

"Excellent. Well, what can I do except offer you a place in my ranks? Z' agreement is simple: I provide you wiz protection from z' Agents of z' System and a safe place to hide in, and you provide me wiz whatever services you can offer. What can you offer?" He knew very well, but he wanted her to spell it out.

Libra was confused, but found herself explaining that she was similar to the Twins in terms of the ability to dematerialise and reform. She was programmed with a variety of martial arts and long-range combat, and had also downloaded some knife-fighting techniques for her switchblade. She admitted that she phased slower than either Twin, but despite this and her small frame, it was clear simply from the way she held herself that she was a practised fighter and would give her life to protect her Mistress.

The Merovingian listened to all this with half his attention, nodding every now and then. Yes, she would do. What he had begun to plan would require Persephone to have some sort of protection, and the Balance was perfect, so to speak. The tall Twins for him, and the small Scales for her. Two birds with one stone, since his wife had asked for the little program to be found, and she had come straight to him.

"_Bien_, zat will do." He took a sip of his drink and made her wait until the silence started to become uncomfortable. The DJ changed the CD. "You wouldn't happen to know of any other programs running around out zere, would you?" he asked, in what he hoped was an off-handed way.

She shrugged innocently. "If there were, I would not have much to do with them. I haven't gotten along well with many of them." She still hadn't forgiven Sagittarius for her role in Phoenix's fall.

"Right..." She had to be lying: someone must have told her about him. "Well, I see no reason why you cannot start straight aw-- Ah, Wingless. Zat took you a little longer zan I'd anticipated."

The Chinese man ascended the steps and bowed respectfully. "My progress was somewhat hindered."

Libra turned at the sound of the voice she knew so well, her eyes widening. Her heart jumped, but she managed to refrain from running to hug him. "Ph-phoenix?" she whispered, joy in her face.

The Phoenix did a minimalised double take, before greeting her with indifference. "Libra."

The Merovingian's brow rose again. No doubt Wingless had read the same signs: emotion, more specifically, love. This would be... interesting.

Libra controlled herself quickly, turning back to the Frenchman and remaining quiet… though from the corner of her eye she could see several of her old compatriots smirking.

The Frenchman spoke to Wingless again. "What do you mean, 'hindered' ?" It was as though he had forgotten she was there.

The Scales listened quietly, wondering what the Phoenix had been doing prior to his arrival. She wasn't bothered by his greeting; she knew that was just how he was.

Wingless glanced at her again, a slight unease in his body language. His eyes flicked to Libra a third time behind his shades. "Two humans got involved. With your permission," he added, "I would like to run a search on the elder." He gestured elegantly to his shoulder where the throwing knife had pierced his programmed flesh.

Surprise carved the Merovingian's features into a frown. "It is not like you to take revenge, my fallen angel. What is so special about zis one?"

Wingless remained silent for a minute. "I believe he has connections," he said quietly. "I have to be sure."

Libra remained expressionless, but her mind raced. Connections equated Stinger-Tail, yet what human would be stupid enough to get involved with both Scorpius and the Phoenix?

The Merovingian shrugged. "All right. You know where z' terminal is. I assume the prisoner is safely locked away?"

"She is." Wingless' posture stiffened, but he mastered himself and de-tensed into his usual alert stance.

"_Merci beaucoup_. You are dismissed. Actually..."

Wingless rotated on the spot.

The Merovingian smiled slyly. " Escort the Scales here to her Mistress."

Wingless grimaced. The Twins exchanged glances - rarely did Wingless ever display emotion. The Chinese assassin stalked with the manner of Gemini down the staircase and began to cut smoothly through the crowd. He didn't look back; had he done so, he would have seen Leo staring over the balcony, his raven-black hair flashing green in the neon, grinning at him.

The Merovingian smiled to himself and ordered another cocktail.

* * *

Libra had to run to keep up with the taller program, wanting to say something to him but finding that she couldn't speak. Had she always been this awkward around him? No, she decided, it was the distance of years that was holding her tongue. 

Wingless observed himself. There was resentment towards the little ghost, and annoyance. He knew she would have touched him had her sense not kicked in. Wingless allowed none to touch him, except in combat. He reached the backdoor and retrieved his key bracelet from his fire-red sleeve, unlocking the fire escape door which technically should have been unlocked already.

Finally, she could take the silence no more. "Is Virgo well?" she blurted, unable to stop herself.

"Yes, although she is now called Persephone. You will refer to her by that name. You will need to discard your star name as well if you are to remain here."

_Persephone…_ Libra mentally tried it out, then nodded. It did suit her better than 'Virgo'… but… discard her star name? What other name could she take?

Wingless lead her through the door and into an ornate room which certainly did not belong to the back of a club. He took her down a series of corridors and finally stopped outside a double oak door painted red. "Go in. Your mistress has been waiting for you."

What was that? A kind word to Libra, of all programs? He shook his head and without another glance to her, departed back the way he had come. Libra pushed the door open to find the Maiden sitting in a darkened room with a glass ceiling, watching the stars. The little program's breath caught in her throat, then she whispered, "Virgo?"

The lady turned, her eyes focusing on her former companion. "Libra!" With a soft cry of joy, Libra ran to her mistress, enveloping her in a tight hug. Persephone clasped her guardian close, laying one hand against her white braid as Libra whispered, "I feared I'd not see you again…"

"It is all right now," Persephone assured her, stepping back to look over the lost constellation. Libra remembered herself and bowed, eliciting a laugh from the Maiden. She made room for Libra to sit beside her so that they could catch up.

Wingless paused as he ascended the stairs, listening to the happy chatter from the room where he had left the Scales. As he tilted his head upwards, he heard piano music, and he shook his head. When would Cujo-aka-Lupus ever twig that he never was, and never would be a musician?

The Fallen One moved swiftly, choosing a room with only a desk and a computer terminal. He seated himself and launched the search engine into the Merovingian's data files, focusing all his concentration on the screen.

* * *

The sugar packet made a small noise as it fell to the uncarpeted floor, drawing the attention of a young man sprawled nearby on a sofa. He glanced from the pages of his book to the white rectangle on the floor, then from there to the front door. Looked as if Cue was back. He laid his book on the table and rose, scooping up the sugar packet and tossing it back into the air as he went to unlock the door. 

The packet never came down.

"You better not have wrecked my car," were the words he greeted his flatmate with.

Cue grumbled. "I've never wrecked your car," he informed the older man, then told him, "Arin's spending the night," as the girl appeared beside him.

Arin grinned at Cue's flatmate, a scrawny, twenty-something bookworm. "Hi Sparrow. Read anything interesting lately?"

"A law that states all must refer to me as 'Hawk', not 'Sparrow', on pain of death," Sparrowhawk grinned back. "Nice to see you again, kid." His eyes narrowed as he saw Cue's swollen wrist, though he quickly resumed his normal smirk. "There should be some leftover pizza in the kitchen, if you're hungry," he told Arin. "Just don't smack into the Early-Warning Device."

Arin laughed. "What was it this time?" The flat used to freak her out with its random acts of... randomness, but she had grown used to it. She plucked the packet out of the air and examined it, part of her searching for the wires, the other part cowering under a duvet.

"That," Sparrow told her before lowering his voice to talk to Cue. "What the hell happened to your wrist?" Cue explained quickly in low tones; on hearing the name 'Wingless', Sparrow paled considerably. "He's in England?"

Arin found the box of pizza and plucked a slice, peeling off the peppers. She heard snippets of conversation from the front room, and she sat a little straighter on the sofa at Sparrow's alarm.

"You know him, Sparrow?" She reappeared at the doorway, the pizza slice forgotten in her hand.

"'Know' isn't the right word," Sparrow replied. "I… encountered him once, before I came to England." He shuddered. "I am so glad I'm not on his bad side."

Cue carefully eyed the ceiling and whistled innocently; Sparrow's mind was racing. He strode to his computer; with any luck he could have Cue's records altered before the hour was up.

"Sparrow... Is it a _really_ bad thing to be on Wingless' bad side?"

"Very bad," he told her, glaring at Cue.

The girl looked pensive. After a pause she looked at between both and said quietly, "I don't want to go back home until all this is sorted out. I'm scared, Cue..." She crossed the room to him and stood close. Cue knelt down and hugged her, glaring at his flatmate over her shoulder.

"Relax," Sparrow said, not at all looking repentant. "Wingless doesn't target kids; that isn't his style."

"Oh, I feel a lot better now I know Cue isn't safe," she said sarcastically. Sparrow could be a very infuriating individual. "What are you doing?" she questioned, releasing her big brother and looking towards the screen.

Irritatingly, he closed the window. "Nothing you want to know about." This translated into 'something illegal'. He rolled his shoulders and stood. "I'm running down to the vending machines, anyone want anything?"

Arin was about to ask for a Dairy Milk bar, but a sudden sharp pain assailed her forehead. She gasped in pain and clapped her hands to her head, the slice of pizza falling to the floor... where it floated several inches above the laminate.

Automatically, she looked to the door, dread sending a shiver up her spine. There was the sound of unlocking, and the door swung open to reveal Wingless, as impassive as ever. Only his clenched fists gave away his purpose.

"Shit," said Sparrow and Cue simultaneously. Cue rose to his feet, stepping in front of Arin. Sparrow, on the other hand, tried to step away.

"Quentin Greene, we have a score to settle." The assassin's gaze swept the front room, alighting on Sparrow. "How nice to see you again, Dmitri Bauer. I trust you have learned your lesson?"

Both men's eyes widened at the use of their real names. Sparrow recovered quickly however, retorting, "You've not seen me again until now. I should bloody well think I've learned my lesson."

Wingless grinned. "Language," he chided, "There are children present."

"Who are you?" burst out Arin, taking this as her cue. "And how do you know their names?"

"Child, you would not understand if I were to explain."

"Try me."

Wingless made a strange kind of half smile. "Now that _would_ be interesting."

"She doesn't need to know, Wingless," Sparrow growled. Cue was manoeuvring so that he was completely blocking Arin from the line of fire while Sparrow glared at the intruder.

Wingless turned. "Does the Sparrow know? Would it sing if I... persuaded it?"

Arin couldn't stand his cat and mouse games. "Push off! You have Miss Calloway, what do you want with us?"

"I want to give you something. Not many have managed to harm me, and I want to reward both of you for it." Wingless faced Cue and ceremoniously pressed his fist to his palm.

Arin blanched. "Cue..."

"Leave her out of this," Cue snarled, one of his knives seeming to appear in his good hand. Arin was yanked out of the way by Sparrow, her eyes never leaving her brother.

Wingless assumed his favourite stance and circled, forcing Cue around so that his back was to the wall, monitoring the tension in his good arm. Cue suddenly remembered the guns Scorpius had sold him, and immediately began planning a last resort defence involving them. He'd have to be quick; Wingless was a fast little bastard. The teen fell into a defensive stance, his eyes never leaving his opponent.

Always the first to strike, Wingless batted the knife hand out of the way with a roundhouse kick and attacked. Cue ducked aside, moving swiftly to avoid the blows as he slashed upwards at Wingless' stomach.

Wingless flipped into a walkover to avoid the knife strike, going on the defensive for a few moments. His fist shot out and with a good sharp twist, disarmed Cue and took the knife for himself. He flipped it into the air and caught it with his left hand, mimicking Cue exactly.

Cue's eyes narrowed as he saw Wingless mirroring his stance. Ah, well, at least in a knife fight he stood a chance. He drew a second fighting blade, moving his right hand experimentally at the same time. A sickening flash of pain told him that using that hand would be a BAD idea.

Wingless noticed his features twist slightly. "Does it hurt?" he asked mockingly.

"F… screw you," Cue snarled, changing his phrasing slightly to spare Arin's ears.

Sparrowhawk, meanwhile, was attempting to urge Arin out the back way. Arin wriggled under his grip. "Sparrow, we have to help Cue!"

"Cue can help himself," Sparrow said urgently. "I don't think Wingless will kill him."

Arin persisted. "I've had something to do with this too, I can't leave _niisan_ to take all the rip!"

"Sure you can," Sparrow urged, keeping an eye on the fighters. "It's the smart thing to do, and Cue's too stubborn to roll over and die."

Wingless smirked. "Have you told your 'little sister' about the incident yet?"

Arin stopped dead still. "...What?"

Cue blinked. Incident? What incident could he… oh. _Fuck_. His face paled as he realised which _incident_ Wingless was referring to.

Wingless raised an eyebrow, sensing he had struck home. Words were as good as any weapon in certain circumstances. "So you haven't?"

Arin went cold. "Cue, what does he mean?"

"Shut up," Cue hissed at Wingless. Sparrow sensed danger and split, giving up on taking Arin with him.

Arin watched Sparrow disappear towards the fire escape, knowing she should follow. Her curiosity rooted her feet to the spot, however, and she bit her lower lip in anger as Wingless turned his head to her. "I'll give you a choice, Quentin. Either I tell your sister about the incident, or you let me take my revenge physically. On both of you," he added, privately wondering if he had the mettle to harm the girl.

Cue snarled. "That was a long time ago and I paid the price for it. It has nothing to do with this, and I will _die_ before I let you touch her."

Arin paled. If she'd gone with Sparrow, Wingless wouldn't have mentioned 'the Incident'... Despite what Cue said, she wasn't going to let him die, which meant she'd have to keep Wingless from touching her.

"You've not chosen," observed Wingless, gripping the knife handle in readiness. "I do not wish to kill either of you, but I will do it if you annoy me further." The assassin didn't want to kill? Wingless blinked behind his shades, surprised at himself.

"What difference does it make now?" Cue growled, defeated. "Tell her, if you wish." She would have found out sooner or later anyway… Cue wouldn't look at Arin. He couldn't.

Wingless actually hesitated. Arin's gaze bored into his skull.

He didn't say anything more. Taking advantage of Cue's distraction, he struck him across the face with the knife handle, then drove the blade deeply into his shoulder, replicating the wound he had received earlier in the evening. Arin's scream tore into Wingless' mind like a slice of ice. Without a glance to either of them, he sprinted to the door and exited the way he had come.

Cue slumped to the floor, his back to the wall. _I got off easy_, he thought. That had been far too close, and now Arin would surely want to know about… about that. Damn him! And damn that coward Sparrowhawk for not taking Arin with him!

Cue couldn't help but wonder, though, how Wingless had known both his real name and… _that._

Arin didn't move for a second, her eyes transfixed by the blade protruding from her big brother's shoulder. Without a word she ran to the cordless and dialled 999 for the second time that night. She had gone very pale, and her fingers trembled as she dialled. "They'll ask questions," she whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"I'll answer. Again." He wrapped his fingers around the handle as if to yank out the blade, rethought his action, and let go. No need to make it worse.

Again, Arin spoke briefly, forcing the details out. She hung up at last and let out her breath in a long sigh. She seemed to wake up, and scuttled across to where Cue was. She didn't know what to say: there were so many things she had to ask... someone. Cue would probably be taken to the hospital to be patched up; God knew where Scrawny-Sparrow was. So what would happen to her? She shivered at the thought of spending the night here alone. "I'll probably have to go home," she said dejectedly.

"No way in hell," he replied. "I'm keeping you with me."

Arin smiled weakly. "Oh good..." Well, they had about ten minutes before the ambulance would get there... "Cue..?"

"Yeah?"

A pause: her courage fell. "Does that hurt?" she asked, deflated. _I'll ask him later..._

"You want to know what he was talking about, don't you?"

Another pause, longer than the first. "... Yeah."

Cue was silent for a long moment. "He was talking about my first conviction," the young man said at last. "The murder conviction."

Arin swallowed again. "You killed someone?" Her life was beginning to come apart at the seams, and now there was a rip right down the middle.

"Yes. I was… very young." He sighed. "I did it to save my mom."

"What happened?" Her tone was curious, as though it were a pool game they were discussing. She sat beside him cross-legged.

"I came home from school to find my uncle beating my mother." His tone was distant, as if he was discussing something that had happened to someone else. "She - wasn't moving. I tried to get him to stop, but he just threw me aside. Then I saw the gun." A pause, then silence. "I killed him. I wasn't even trying to, but I did."

"Do you regret it?"

"No. Never have." Cue looked at the ceiling. "He nearly killed my mother, Arin. She was all I had."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. Her thoughts turned to her own mother. "Wonder where she is now..." She stopped and looked quickly at Cue. _Why'd I say that out loud!_

He wrapped his good arm around her shoulders. "I don't know, kid. I haven't seen her since they moved me into rehab. I suppose she's doing better now." Silence fell, then he said softly, "Arin, if the police come again, I want you to tell them you were in the kitchen and that you stayed there. I want to leave Wingless out of this as much as I possibly can. I don't think he'll be back, and I'd rather not give the bastard _reason_ to come back." He grimaced in pain. "I can blame the runners; Sparrow-the-Idiot mentioned they came around yesterday."

Arin nodded. "Okay. I'll say I saw nothing, and that I came out when I heard the door shut."

Something occurred to Cue. "Don't blame Sparrow for booking it," he said quietly. "He told me about his encounter with that guy. He's the only man I know of that actually scares him."

Despite Cue's defence of Sparrow, she was furious with him for not sticking around to help, or even running to getting help. "Scared or not, he should have helped his friends," she muttered.

Cue smiled. "The problem with our songbird is that he deals in information. This makes him very valuable to many people, in several different ways. Odds are there's a price or five on his head. If he annoys someone like Wingless enough, well…"

"I don't want to know what will happen to him, do I?" Arin sighed. "You know before at the riding school I was beginning to think my life had settled down again. Now I don't know whether I'll ever see Miss Calloway ever again, and..." she broke off. It was too painful to consider losing Cue.

His arm tightened around her shoulders protectively, then he paused and asked, "Arin, you think you could get me some water? I'm not sure if I should be moving." When she'd vanished into the kitchen, he swiftly took his new guns from his jacket and used his foot to slide them under the sofa. He couldn't afford to be caught with illegal weapons, not with two strikes against him.

Arin glanced out of the window for any sign of Sparrow. Sure enough, the car was gone. She clenched her teeth for a moment, then filled a glass from the tap. Concentrating on not spilling a drop, she carried it carefully back to Cue.

"Thanks, kid," he smiled, taking a sip. Surprisingly enough, it made him feel a bit better - the sharp pain in his shoulder, added to the dull throb in his wrist, was enough to make him nauseous. He eyed the blade in his shoulder, frowning. "My knife, my stance, my stab… what is this guy _saying_?" he muttered.

"I don't know, but it's creepy." Arin had a thought and doubled back for a bundle of kitchen roll. Trying to see the blood as red paint, she gingerly mopped up Cue's shoulder, taking care to avoid the knife handle, which she was thinking of as a paintbrush.

Cue carefully hid a wince and smiled at her. "Thanks, Arin. Don't know what I'd do without you."

"Same - I don't know what I'd do without you." The headache was back, steadily throbbing with her racing pulse. A wave of angry pain crashed against her skull, and she clutched her forehead. "Ow!"

Cue frowned, concerned. "Arin, what's wrong?" He recalled the last time her head had hurt, and his eyes flew to the door. _Not that bastard Wingless again…,_ he prayed silently.

"Headache... I'm probably overtired." She managed a smile. Then the sugar packet fell from the ceiling again. Arin crawled to it and tossed it up again, where it hovered near the doorframe.

Cue relaxed. "I s'pose the ambulance is here. About time; I'd like to get my knife out of my shoulder."

Arin smiled again, and went to the front door. "I hope that strange man in the suit isn't here," she commented, glancing at Cue with her hand on the door handle.

"If he is, I'll handle him. Feds… gah. Let 'em in."

Arin nodded and opened the door.

* * *

_A note for the future: Cue and Arin will continuously refer to each other as brother and sister throughout the story, even though they're not related. I hope you don't mind my attempt to ward off confusion._

_ Yes, Cue did kill his uncle. No, he does not regret it._

_That's all for now, folks!_

_Time Posted: 0104  
Music Playing: _Navras_ - Juno Reactor_

_

* * *

On a side note, does anyone know how to get double-spaces to work? I need some way to indicate POV-shift, and the Document Editor eats extra BR tags, in addition to asterisks, those funky squiggly lines, and just about everything that isn't a roman letter or number. _


	5. Fourth

4

* * *

Kathryn Small slipped out of her house for her usual after-dinner stroll. It was her time, a time she used for reflection on her day, to plan for tomorrow, and to work on restructuring the shell that had nearly been destroyed when she was separated from the other Constellations during the Fall. Kitty, as her human companions called her, had spent several days trying to program herself a new shell. A lucky break had enabled her to acquire the body of a young human, much in the manner of Agents.

Unfortunately, this body had become unstable, and she was having trouble patching the glitches. She would rather not go to anyone for help, especially not the Merovingian. Not after the tragedy he'd caused her two years ago.

Around the corner from her stood a young man, his golden PVC trench coat shining oddly in the evening sun. He was talking quietly on a mobile phone, one hand pressing the casing to his ear, the other embedded in his long blond bangs, holding it from his face. He sighed exasperatedly. "Okay, okay, I'll come. But you'll have to wait until I can get there - I'm not using the Corridor like you do."

Kitty heard and recognised the young man's voice. A mischievous grin spread across her young face as she slowed her pace, peering around the corner to see that the voice's owner was facing away from her. After he hung up the phone, she pounced.

"_Aries!_"

Aries gasped as the teenager hit him from behind, staggering forwards. He twisted, "Get off!"

Kitty giggled as she let go of the Ram, taking a step back. "What, you don't recognise me, Aries? I'm hurt."

It took Aries a moment before it clicked. "Lynx?" His feelings were mixed: relief because she had survived, disappointment because her ordeal didn't seemed to have changed her personality. "Where have you been all this time?"

She tipped her head to the side, thinking, then answered, "My shell got a bit... messed up in the Fall. I've been trying to put it back together."

"For ten years?" asked Aries incredulously. He looked her over. Most of what he had known as Lynx was gone - except the wildness behind her yellow-green eyes. It seemed she had chosen to become a stereotypical American teenager, and he shivered involuntarily.

"Yes, for ten years!" she replied. "You try rebuilding your shell from almost-scratch!"

"No thanks," he said quickly. "I like it just as it is." He squashed thoughts of the 'costume' he had worn to Hel. "I can't talk now, Lynx, I have to get over to the UK."

"Why?"

"Scorpius wants me, but he won't tell me why."

"Scorpius is still around!" Her eyes lit up in delight. "Great, I'll come too!"

Aries did a double take. "Are you sure?"

She nodded eagerly, then frowned. "Oh... but my curfew is eleven o'clock..."

Aries checked his watch. "With the time difference too, you'll be way over that, little kitty."

The Lynx smirked. "Not if we take the Hallway."

"No way," Aries said instantly. "I'm not drawing attention to myself. I'm flying. By plane," he added.

The girl snorted. "Cute, Ram, very cute. You can traverse the Hallway without attracting attention, you know. I do it all the time, now come on!" With that, she grabbed his hand and all but dragged him down the street, to a door hidden by shrubbery.

"Are you sure about this?" Aries cast a wary glance either way down the street, and then felt in his pocket for his key. He tried his other pocket: still nothing. "Shit, where's my key?" He patted himself down anxiously.

Kitty smiled. "This key?" she asked, holding it up.

Aries blinked. "Yeah... Damn, you're light-fingered."

"I know." She tossed him his key. "It staves off boredom."

Aries fumbled the catch and retrieved the key from the pavement. "Hmm..." He walked in front of her and unlocked the door, slipping through quickly. He gestured, "Hurry up, Lynx."

She followed him, her short blonde ponytail bouncing slightly with the movement. "How is Scorpius doing?" she asked Aries curiously as they travelled.

"Oh, just as evil as usual." Aries was half listening, counting the doors.

Kitty watched him, he didn't seem very happy. She shut up and followed, wondering what was causing him to be so pensive.

Aries couldn't stop thinking about Libra. The feeling that he had blown his only chance so quickly kept returning to his mind, plaguing him. He couldn't tell Scorpius. Scorpius would laugh at him. He didn't want to tell Lynx either. And now he'd never be able to tell Libra how he felt, because she had gone to the Merovingian.

He shook himself mentally and stopped in front of the correct door. "Here we go." He inserted his key again and unlocked the door onto a dingy London back alley.

Kitty skipped out and looked around. "Ah, the part of England they don't want the tourists to see."

"Look hard enough and you'll find there's only about ten square miles that are actually worth seeing in this city," muttered Aries. "Okay, stay close to me."

Kitty looped her arm through his and assumed an innocent expression. "I won't palm anything else tonight, I promise." Her touch calmed Aries, and he lead them confidently out of the alley and along a main road. Neon glared from a dozen bars and clubs, and three different kinds of music mingled with the noise of the steady trickle of taxis and cars.

Five streets, four alleys and a zebra-crossing later, Aries stopped at a pub and ducked inside, receiving an odd look from one of the bouncers on duty. The second bouncer glanced over them, and promptly stuck his arm out. "Hold it. Are you over eighteen?"

Kitty gave him her sweetest smile. "I'm not here to drink," she said, the picture of angelic innocence. "My brother," she leaned against Aries, "wanted me to meet a friend of his."

The bouncer narrowed his eyes, but Kitty's look did the trick. "All right then. I'd advise you to carry ID if you come again."

He lifted his arm, and Aries yanked her inside. "Nicely done. I'd forgotten about them."

Kitty arched a brow at him. "You certainly have been thinking of other things," she told him. Noting the bouncer's watchful gaze, she kept up her "sweet and innocent little sister" act.

"Don't ask, because I won't tell," he murmured, raising his head to scan the crowded room. "Right, where is he?" He made a show of looking to satisfy the bouncer.

"Wasn't going to ask... shall we pretend Scorpius is an old family friend you caught up with to explain away any exuberant greetings?"

"I don't think that will be necessary, actually. He's good at blending in. Aha - there he is." He grabbed her arm again and began weaving through the room to the back. Amused, Lynx let him lead her.

Scorpius looked up from his laptop and grinned. "Oh, so you did take the quick way, cousin?"

Aries took a seat opposite, feeling safer being lower down in the crowd. "Lynx wanted to come too."

Scorpius winked at her. "Long time no see, Lynx."

Kitty grinned and hugged him tightly. "It's great to see you again, Scorpius!" Of all the Constellations, it was the Scorpion she had missed most of all.

Scorpius returned her hug, albeit briefly. He had an image to keep up, and he could see Aries' eyes widening. "Okay, kitten, gerroff." The Lynx idolised him, and he knew it. He quite liked it, actually.

She let go obediently, smiling at him. "I wasn't sure what had happened to you and the others. I can't believe you recognised me!"

"I'd know those eyes anywhere. Now, Ram." Scorpius pushed a chair out with his boot for Kitty to sit on. "I have some pretty bad news. Wingless is back."

Aries leant forwards abruptly, "What?"

Kitty sat, her eyes widening, and she kept her mouth shut. This was bad, very bad.

"He's got Sagittarius, and is also attempting to kill a contact of mine and his 'sister'."

"Which contact?" Aries asked.

"Young man named Cue. Plays a mean game of pool. His 'sister' is unusually Aware, although nobody's actually told her yet. They ran into Wingless when he was stealing Sagittarius, and both of them angered him."

Kitty couldn't help but wonder how a human could be dumb enough to anger Wingless... but Jace had angered -

She cut off that train of thought before it bogged her down in guilt.

"I want you to find Cue and Arin and get them out of London," ordered Scorpius. He handed Aries a piece of paper with something printed on it. "That's his flat. Some sneaky devil altered all his records just after I got in." Scorpius made a mental note to look up that individual as well. Hackers were always useful.

Kitty looked at Scorpius. "Do you need me to do anything?" she asked, eager to help out.

Aries looked at her. "I thought you had a curfew..."

She showed him her watch, which read 7:30 PM. "I've a few hours yet. And every healthy American teenager misses curfew at some point. I do have an act to keep up, you know."

Aries nearly smacked his head. _Time difference... Idiot. _

Scorpius considered her. "I suppose you could go along with Ram. The girl might appreciate a bit of femininity."

Kitty grinned happily. "Thanks!" She had been too long out of the loop, though her inquiries into that 'Nox' character back home were going well.

Scorpius smiled and closed the laptop lid. "Well, get going. I'll catch you up tomorrow morning. Unless something else happens, that is," he added darkly. "Get them to Cambridge, if you can."

Aries looked shocked. "That far?"

"Yup. I'd say Manchester, but that'd take you too long. Plus the girl has parents to think of."

Aries sighed heavily. "Right."

"Where are you going?" Kitty asked, concerned for her idol.

Scorpius stood up. "I, dear kitten, am going to the mountains. I need to scope out the château."

"What for?" demanded Aries.

Scorpius looked at him. "A rescue, of course." The tall program gathered his computer under his arm and swept past them into the crowd.

Kitty smiled. "Sagittarius. Of course. He likes her, doesn't he?"

"He'd say she's his partner in crime," replied Aries thoughtfully. He watched Scorpius disappear from view, then checked the scrap of paper. "Right. Luckily that isn't too far from here. Come on."

* * *

"That bloody _idiot_," Sparrowhawk muttered, sifting the 'net for all of Cue's records and deleting them viciously. He'd liked this flat, but now that Wingless knew where they were, a move was in order. Luckily, Sparrow could get a new one without ever leaving a paper or electronic trail. _Thank God for cash._

The cops had been shooed away, though the Fed had taken longer to convince to go away - Sparrow rather thought he'd noticed the floating sugar packet.

As if by design, said packet plummeted to the floor. "_Damn_ it!"

Exactly one-point-zero-one seconds after the packet fell, there was another knock at the flat door.

"Nobody's home!" Sparrow yelled at the door, irked. He swiftly erased all traces of his prior activities and went to open it anyway.

The door opened, revealing a young man in black with a vibrant gold trench coat and a flop of hair to match. "Are you Cue?"

"No," Sparrow growled, immediately distrustful of the man.

"Good going, Aries," came a female voice behind the blond. "Ever hear of subtlety?"

The young man, Aries, winced. "All right, Lynx, you talk to him." He sidestepped deftly, revealing the teenager.

The appearance of a young blonde with the strangest yellow-green eyes he'd ever seen threw Sparrow slightly off-balance. "Who are you people, and what do you want with Cue?"

The girl grinned broadly. "An associate of his is very interested in his safety. He asked us to escort him to Cambridge."

Sparrow's grey eyes narrowed. "This 'associate' wouldn't happen to be named 'Wingless', by any chance?"

"Do you really think Wingless would send someone else to do his dirty work?" scoffed Aries. "We're here on behalf of Scorpius."

"Which isn't much better," the hacker replied, but he let them in. "Cue's in the hospital thanks to Wingless."

Kitty's eyes narrowed. Only the hospital? That didn't sound like Wingless.

Aries had followed the same thought. "So he's not dead yet?" He winced as Kitty elbowed him in the gut.

"A broken wrist and a knife through the shoulder are hardly life-threatening," Sparrow replied, then muttered, "which is very strange, considering that Cue managed to _hurt_ the bastard."

"He did?" Aries was alarmed: when was the last time that had happened?

"Apparently."

Aries looked beseechingly at the hacker. "Look, Scorpius wants us to get Cue and the little girl out of London tonight, and I don't fancy hanging around waiting for Wingless to come back. Which hospital is he in?"

Sparrow looked at them both, then opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by the sugar packet falling yet again. "Son of a _bitch_!"

Aries locked onto it. "A glitch?"

"Yeah, one I use as an Early-Warning Device to tell me when people are coming."

Kitty's eyes narrowed, and she opened the door a crack to peek out. "Oh, my God..."

Aries leapt over. "What?" He crossed his fingers. If it was the police, he'd be out of that window faster than an escaped budgie.

She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. "It's an Agent."

Aries went cold. "Oh, _fuck_! Change of plan, we scarper and come back tomorrow!" He was already on his way to the back window.

Sparrow was hot on his heels. "We can take my car; the kid can sit in your lap," he told Aries.

Kitty didn't move.

Aries stopped wondering how Sparrow knew to be shit-scared of Agents to yell over his shoulder, "Lynx, come on! Unless you want to be Deleted!"

"Knew it," Sparrow muttered.

Kitty looked back at Aries with a smile. "One Agent won't be a problem for me."

Despite himself, Aries doubled back and grabbed her arm. "How many Agents have you fought, little kitten? Get down that fire escape NOW!" His own tension was accidentally coming out as anger towards her.

"Agents are nothing compared to Gemini!" she snapped back, but she let him drag her away. Sparrowhawk was already out the window and halfway down the fire escape.

_Lynx has met Gemini?_ Aries bundled her roughly through the window as the Agent outside knocked for a second time, louder. _Shitshitshit..._

Sparrow figured he was close enough to the ground and jumped the rest of the way down, bolting for his car and starting the engine. He'd give the two programs two minutes, then he was gone.

Kitty didn't bother with the fire escape, simply jumping to the ground and running for the corvette. Aries followed Lynx's example and dropped, landing hard. He used the momentum to lurch forwards towards the car, hearing as he did so the terrible sound of the Agent punching through the door. "Quick!"

As soon as the strangers were in the car, Sparrow floored it, not even waiting for Aries to shut the door.

"You'll need a new front door, hacker," commented Aries, yanking his door shut as it scraped another parked car.

"Fuck that, I need a new apartment! Don't suppose you'd program me one?"

"Programs can't program things as big as that," said Aries automatically, and then he properly registered what the human had said. "You're a freebie?" he demanded, taking his gaze from Lynx's back where she perched in his lap to stare at the hacker.

"Nope. Blue pill," Sparrow replied easily, making sure his lights were off as he sped down the road.

Aries wasn't completely up to scratch with the freeing methods. He'd shied from Rebels, in general. "Meaning..?"

"Meaning I shouldn't remember anything they told me. But I do."

"How did you manage that?" Aries shifted uncomfortably. "Lynx, there isn't anywhere else you could sit, it there?"

"Not sure. And the only other place she can sit is my lap, and she wouldn't fit there."

Kitty whispered an apology to Aries, shifting so that most of her weight was leaning against the door.

"I suppose you know we're both... not human?" hazarded Aries after a pause.

"I guessed, and you confirmed it," Sparrow replied. "I've gotten pretty good at telling the difference. At least it explains why I've always hated Agents." Deeming them to be far enough from his flat, he flipped on the headlights.

Aries felt slightly better after his initial terror at the sight of the Agent. He blew his fringe from his face. One downer of not having anything to concentrate on was that his mind wandered, and simulated as it was, it was just as predictable as any human brain.

He was moping again...

"We're here," Sparrow said, parking the car in a side street. "Everybody out."

Lynx leapt out, followed by Aries. "Hooray for the NHS," he muttered. "At least you won't have to pay to get him back."

"Why d'you think I moved to England?" With a minimum of fuss - Sparrow had an obscene amount of credichits on his person - he got them to the room housing Cue and Arin.

Arin looked around from her perch on a stool beside an infuriatingly clean bed. "Sparrow!"

Cue looked up, "Sparrow, you bastard, it took you long enough to get here."

"I had a few things to take care of," he said unrepentantly. "Ran into a friend of your Scorpion buddy."

Aries smiled helpfully, and was about to speak, but Arin crossed the distance between them at a run, and without warning, jumped up and smacked Sparrow across the face. "Coward!"

Sparrow blinked and rubbed his cheek. "I guess I deserved that." Behind him, he could hear the girl - Lynx, that was it - laughing.

Aries thoughtfully concealed a smirk. It would probably do well to remain on good terms with this 'Sparrow' character. He turned instead to Cue. "Scorpius sent us." He gestured to the still-grinning Lynx. "We've been told to escort both of you out of London tonight, if possible." He raised his eyebrows at the heavy bandaging on the human's shoulder and right wrist.

Cue smirked. "Works for me… but Arin…" he turned to look at her, the smirk replaced by a worried expression.

Arin bit her lip. "Not good..."

"Scorpius said you have parents to think about," questioned Aries, looking at her.

"My dad's out on location in Namibia - he's a cameraman for the BBC," explained Arin. "My step-mum's a journalist for some crappy women's magazine. She is not going to let me go to Cambridge, whatever I say..."

Cue sighed. "If I didn't have two strikes against me, I'd take you anyway… Sparrow, is there a way you could alter Arin's records so _he_ can't find her?"

Sparrow shook his head. "'Fraid not, pal - odds are he got the information while he was getting the stuff on you."

There was a pause, then Aries spoke up. "There's one way I can think of, but it'd probably put you in more danger..."

Kitty looked at him. "What do you mean?" Cue frowned, looking at her - why did that girl seem familiar?

Aries took a breath. "We 'kidnap' all of you. It shouldn't look too out of place, since you two were at the scene of Sagit-- Terri Calloway's disappearance, and you, Sparrow, are probably wanted by several people. What do you think?" he asked nervously.

"We'll talk about that idea in a minute," Sparrow said, cocking a finger at Aries. "I want to talk to you outside. Now." He didn't give the blond any time to protest, dragging him outside and shutting the door.

Cue blinked. "That was random."

Aries shook off Sparrow's arm, annoyed. "What?"

"Just a quick question," he replied, reaching for his back pocket before sighing and removing an empty hand. "Lynx, Aries, Scorpius, Sagittarius - there any reason you're all named after constellations?"

"Yes." Aries was reluctant to spill, and it showed.

Sparrow smirked. "I'm going to find out one way or another, you know. Why not make it easier on us both and just tell me?"

"It'll take too long to explain fully, but let's just say we were constellations, all right? I'll tell you more when they're safe, all right?" Aries pushed angrily past the human and went back into the ward.

Arin's head shot up. "What was that about?"

"Later," snapped Aries impatiently. Source, that girl was curious. "This kidnap is starting now."

Sparrow walked in, grinning broadly, and helped Cue out of the hospital bed. As he did so, Cue pointed to Kitty. "Kathryn, right? Small's sister?"

Kitty blinked, looking at him, then replied, "Greene? Is it true you jumped out a second-floor window to escape the cops?"

Arin collected a few things from the bedside cabinet and stuffed them carelessly into her rucksack. She also retrieved a floppy disk from where she'd slid it under the sheet. At Lynx's comment, she looked up, alarmed. "Two stories? You dropped two floors?"

Cue sighed. "One floor. And it was the ground window I jumped out of. Rumours, good God…"

Sparrow laughed. "You can thank your drug buddies for tha -"

He was cut off by Cue's good hand curving around his throat and yanking him down. His brown eyes blazed as he growled, "_They… were not… my buddies."_

Arin's eyes widened. "Cue, don't, please... Stop bickering and let's get out of here." She slung the bag across her shoulders.

Aries crossed to a wall and slid open a window. "Hope you're feeling up to dropping two floors again," he muttered, leaning out. Below him was a small scruffy patch of lawn; a few young trees swayed in the wind. Beyond that, the carpark, and the tiny Corvette. "Another thing: how are we travelling? That titchy car isn't going to take five of us."

Cue let go of Sparrow and looked out the window. "We could always walk," he said dubiously.

"Or we could take the Ha--," Kitty started, only to be silenced by Sparrow covering her mouth with his hand.

Arin looked around, saw Sparrow's eyes, and closed her mouth. "I'm going to have to question you lot thoroughly," she muttered. Out loud she said, "There's taxi, or train."

"Or we could steal one," suggested Aries. "There's a jeep down there."

"Works for me," Sparrow replied. "Now - how will you get it to start?"

Aries shrugged, reluctant to reveal the skeleton key on its chain around his neck. Scorpius had acquired that from one of his 'friends', and he wasn't going to use it willy-nilly. In fact, he'd not used it at all. Plus the girl didn't need any more... hints. A swift mental debate ensued, then he sighed. "I have a key."

Cue gave him a suspicious look, but looked out the window. "Shit - I forgot that what you Brits call the first floor is the second floor in America… this is not going to be fun…"

Aries leapt and crouched on the window sill. "Go down the stairs - you, girl, say you're taking him out for fresh air or something. Get around to the carpark and I'll meet you there. You two, follow me out this way." With that, he lowered himself over the sill as far as his arms would allow, then kicked off the wall and dropped into the darkness.

Sparrow rolled his eyes as Kitty bounded out the window, not bothering with caution, and turned to Cue, moving his body so that Arin couldn't see what he was doing. "These are yours," he said quietly, passing Cue his guns back, "Don't lose 'em again." Cue nodded, hiding the weapons as Sparrow followed Aries and Kitty.

"Let's go," he said to Arin.

Arin nodded and took his good hand. There were at least three nurses on duty, two of which were laptop-ing. The other one stopped them, but the fresh air excuse seemed to work. The double doors swung shut behind them, and an ambulance swished past, blue lights glaring. "That was almost too easy," murmured Arin uneasily.

"You're right," Cue replied, looking around. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Come on." Arin tugged his hand, noticing a group of figures clustered around a chunky vehicle across the asphalt.

The knife-thrower nodded, walking with her to the others.

Sparrow was talking quietly with Aries, while Kitty sat on the hood of the Jeep, looking at her watch. Aries made a violent gesture and raised his voice, "You can catch up with us later!"

Arin rolled her eyes and called to them. "For Christ's sake, stop arguing! Someone'll hear us." Sparrow offered her an elaborate bow, said something quietly to Aries that was decidedly impolite, and headed off down the alley, tossing his keys in his hand.

Kitty laughed. "Now there goes a man without fear."

"Or brains," Cue agreed.

Arin shook her head. "Let's just go."

Aries bit down on shouting a comment back and leapt into the driver's seat. "Pile in, all." He unhooked the chain from his neck and started the engine.

Arin was about to scramble in the back seat when she stopped suddenly. "Look!" She pointed towards the shadows behind a corner of the hospital building. "There's someone watching us!" she hissed.

Kitty, still blessed with enhanced vision, looked and paled. "Get her in there!" she yelled, leaping into the passenger side. "It's _him_!"

Cue reached out with his good arm and yanked Arin inside. "Floor it!"

Arin was thrown back as Aries gunned the jeep forwards, bumping over the speed hump and taking off down the road. "Next stop, Cambridge."

"This is like a bad horror film," Arin whimpered, nuzzling into Cue. "Like a nightmare... I'd like to wake up now."

Cue held her close. "Shh, baby," he told her quietly. "I'll keep you safe, I promise."

He smiled softly, remembering that these had been the very first words he'd spoken to her when he'd met her years before. The phrase worked like an anaesthetic to Arin, and soon enough she was curled up against Cue, dozing.

Aries glanced at the dashboard. "Sou - Jesus, two AM already?"

Kitty looked at her watch. "9:00 my time. How long does it take to get to Cambridge?"

"About an hour," guessed Aries. It seemed Lynx's human disguise had been very successful - the knife-slinger recognised her as 'Small', whatever the significance was there. He was about to question her on it, but suddenly remembered that the two humans in the back knew nothing of the Matrix, and wisely thought better of it.

Kitty nodded. "It'll be close, but I can make it. Oh, Aries, by the way, my nickname is Kitty. My brother's fault; he started it. I'll fill you in later."

"Brother?"

"Long story."

* * *

The Scorpion slithered through a tangled mess of miscellaneous shrubbery and crept to the window. This was not going to be an easy feat: practically half of the known constellations were here! He'd already seen Leo prowling a hall.

He ducked and ran along the wall, opening the laptop and rapidly typing details of wall heights and thicknesses.

Not that far away, the program once known as Taurus the Bull was exploring the garden. He'd taken the name Esau upon going to the Merovingian, then discovered an ironic quirk of sorts in his programming: he loved gardening, loved 'nature'. Walking through the gardens outside the Château had become a nightly ritual for the Fallen one.

Scorpius twitched his head; he was sure he could hear other sounds besides himself. Half sure he was deceiving himself, he closed the laptop and gathered his coat, hoping his black attire would mask him. He began creeping back the way he had come, keeping close to the wall of the château.

Esau frowned, pausing. He'd heard something…

The former Bull paced forward on now-silent feet, looking for the source of the noise.

Scorpius focused on being completely silent. Unfortunately, this diverted his attention from his feet, and the Scorpion collided with a young willow tree, rebounded and toppled into the pond, scattering koi. "Shit!" He threw up his arms to save the laptop.

Esau sped, no longer bothering with silence. He knew that voice. Seeing the laptop sticking out of the water, he couldn't help but laugh. "Having problems, Scorpion?" he taunted.

Scorpius surfaced, draped ceremoniously with pondweed. "Shut your hole, Bull!" he spluttered, fully aware he would have to either run his ass off or accept his fate. He staggered up, soaked for the second time in twenty-four hours, relieved that the laptop had survived.

"Why don't you go ahead and make me, Stinger-Tail?" Esau suggested, smirking.

"I might just do that," snarled the Scorpion. "But not tonight." He span around and squelched quickly away, praying the other program would not bother with him.

Esau nearly did chase after him, but changed his mind as he recalled a certain rumour that had been floating around when he and the other Constellations had been skybound. Very intriguing, it was. The Scorpion would return.

Esau slipped back inside and headed for the dungeons.

Tiger, formerly Leo, melted out of the shadows to join him. "What was that about?"

"The Scorpion was prowling around. Odds are he'll be back." Esau's smile was dark. "You remember that rumour about him and the Archer, don't you?"

Tiger grinned toothily. "I don't suppose there is a constellation who has not heard of it. Such an unlikely pair... Do you think he was scouting us out?"

"Most likely. I wonder how he found out we had her so quickly, though."

Tiger shrugged. "Source knows."

"I'd like to find out _who_ his sources are." Esau sighed and changed the subject. "Has she awakened yet?"

"No - not when I last looked, anyway." They descended a flight of stairs. "I wonder if _he_ knows about the... incident?"

Esau shrugged. "It wouldn't surprise me if he did. Do you know where he is?"

Tiger shook his head. "No idea."

Esau frowned. "What about Vir - Persephone?"

"With Libra. She still hasn't changed her name," he added thoughtfully. They came to the library, the quickest way to the dungeons. Tiger pushed open the door.

Inside, Cain slammed down the lid of a laptop while Abel, who'd been snickering, immediately tried to stifle his laughter. Esau arched an eyebrow. "And what is so funny as to drag you from your precious books and paintings?" he asked the brothers.

Tiger added his gaze to Esau's, pressuring the werewolf brothers to spill.

"That," Abel sniffed, "is none of your business."

"Besides," Cain added, "if all goes well, you should know within two days." They both looked very pleased with themselves. Tiger exchanged glances with Esau, then looked back at the wolves. "We're going to see how Sagittarius is. Are you coming?"

"Nope," Cain replied. "We've got… other business to take care of."

"Besides, himself is down there with her," Abel added, "and Wingless is bound to join him sooner or later. We'd rather not be there when that happens."

"The Archer's fear is hard on our noses," Cain agreed.

Tiger arched a brow. "Fair enough. I just hope Wingless doesn't get overexcited. The Frenchman does want her to join the ranks, after all."

"That'll be fun," Esau muttered, watching the wolves vacate the library, taking the computer with them. He shook his head and walked to the far bookcase, tugging on _Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung_ to trigger the passage to the dungeons.

Tiger followed him down into the dark dank world, sniffing experimentally. He winced, "Ah, he's started..."

Esau looked at Tiger, and substantially slowed his pace. He didn't feel like walking in on a scream.

* * *

"I still find it hard to believe you actually chose to break z' agreement," mused a cold accent. The rack tightened another notch with a nod of the Frenchman's head, drawing the cords binding Terri even tighter. Ropes creaked.

The former Archer refused to show any pain, her brown eyes blazing cold fire at her captor. Sagittarius was her own master, not some jumped-up frog-eating bastard. "Fuck you," she growled.

The Merovingian laughed. "So much anger, Sagittarius. If you had just done as you were told, you would 'ave spared yourself ze pain..." He raised a hand and twitched a finger; the ropes went tight again.

"My name…," she ground out through clenched teeth, "is _Terri_!"

"Terri? _Terri?_" The Merovingian's face contorted into an expression of disgust. "Hardly fitting for a program. One would think you were attempting to become _human_..."

"Says the man whose name came from a line of French kings," Terri managed to sneer.

She'd hit a nerve. The Merovingian, in a rare display of anger, slammed his fists down on the wooden board. "I, my little sharp-shooting horse-rider, am the king of Exiles. No other has an operation as successful as mine - I am unique in zis world." He brought his face close to hers, fury blazing from his eyes. "I would not insult me again, Archer. You will not live to tell the tale."

She snorted, but held her tongue. She was surprised that the Frenchman had not yet threatened her students - perhaps Wingless hadn't mentioned she taught horse riding? Or perhaps neither knew…

The Merovingian stood back and straightened his collar. "Leave her," he commanded, and the program operating the rack loosened the ropes. He stalked to the door. "I will return at some point so see if you 'ave reconsidered your disobedience. _Au revoir_."

Terri flung several mental curses at the Frenchman.

* * *

Esau and Tiger were waiting outside when the Merovingian quit the room holding the Archer. "Try and talk some sense into her," ordered the Frenchman. He seemed agitated, and strode quickly down the rows of cells towards the exit.

Tiger watched him go thoughtfully. "She's got him angry..."

Esau nodded, then called out, "The Scorpion was here."

His employer turned on his heel. "_Quoi?_ What was he doing 'ere? Never mind. If 'e returns, get him. He is next on my list." He resumed his route towards the door.

Tiger blinked behind his shades. "Sounds like the boss is planning to get us all back together again," he mused.

Esau nodded, looking in on the exhausted program lying on the rack. "You think someone should tell him about the Incident?"

Tiger stared down the corridor. "Probably. But I'm not going to be the one that does it."

"Nor me." Esau shuddered. "Not with the mood he's in now." He gracefully changed the subject. "Did you say Libra was here?"

Tiger altered his gaze and watched Sagittarius recover herself. "Yes. She came voluntarily, but someone must have told her where to find Him."

"How much do you want to bet it was the Scorpion?"

Tiger leered. "I think it was someone else, actually. The Ram is still out there..."

Esau grinned. "A good point indeed. You think he's still hung up on her, then?"

"I'm sure of it. Stubborn thing." Tiger glanced to Sagittarius again, then back to Esau. "Should we tell _her_ about the Scorpion?" he murmured.

Esau considered, then shook his head. "No way. That would only get her to clam up more, and it'll be hard enough making sure Wingless doesn't murder her."

"Good point," echoed Tiger. "Speak of the Devil," he muttered, glancing down the corridor and noticing a familiar flame-red figure coming their way. Tiger stepped across Esau and yanked the cell door shut. Esau shook his head slightly; sometimes it seemed as though the effeminate program had a death wish.

"Wingless," he greeted the other program warily.

Wingless nodded to both with his usual coldness. "Esau; Tiger."

Tiger bowed. "What brings you down here?"

"Her."

Tiger shook his head, his raven hair sticking on his collar. "Off limits, I'm afraid."

Wingless said nothing, but Tiger had to force himself not to flinch at the ferocity of his stare. After a second or two, Wingless turned and strode quickly back the way he had come.

Tiger let his breath out slowly. "That could have been nasty," he observed.

"Very nasty," Esau said softly. He clapped the smaller program on the shoulder. "I've got your back, though. We all have to watch out for each other."

"Yes..." Despite being united under one command, an awful lot of back-stabbing went on in the Merovingian's domain. Metaphorically and literally. "I suppose we'd better get up to the restaurant. We'll be wanted at the high table."

"As always." Esau slung a friendly arm around Tiger's shoulders. "Let's make sure he can't get to her first, though."

"Good idea," acknowledged Tiger. He ducked out from under Esau's arm and began carefully adding a security parameter to the cell door codes. "Better encrypt it..."

Esau nodded, joining in on the programming. "Make so _he_ is the only one who can get in?"

"Yes. We will have to find other ways of watching." With their combined abilities, the coding was finished in a few seconds. Tiger flicked his hair back from his face. "It still feels strange doing that..."

"You said it." Esau grinned at the former Lion. "Shall we head to the restaurant?"

"Certainly."

* * *

_And enter the Lynx! Our little blonde program has a... complicated past, and we look forward to sharing that with you._

_Also, I'm fairly sure the timing somewhere in here is skewed. If there's anyone actually willing to fix that for us, we'll love you for all time._

_

* * *

_

_Time uploaded: 2200_

_Music playing: Nip/Tuck in the background._


	6. Fifth

5

* * *

"So what do we do now?" Lotus asked, looking around at her shipmates. The Operator, Cossack, yanked off his headset and shrugged, glancing uneasily to the lifeless form of the captain still seated in the entry chair. "I can't believe that just happened..." he said sadly. "I should have seen them coming."

Jack patted him on the shoulder. "None of us saw them coming," he said, also looking at the body in the chair. "We should have, but we didn't."

Cossack clenched his teeth. "We'll have to find a new hard-line spot at some point."

"Not now, though!" protested Leprechaun. She had unplugged him and was draping a blanket over him. "We have to... We have to get him back to Zion." Her voice almost broke, but she held it.

"How?" Lotus asked. "None of us have the codes."

"... Shit," Cossack remarked.

"So we're stranded?" demanded Lep.

"Looks that way," replied Lotus.

Jack looked at her. "Unless your French party-thrower has a set of codes we could use…"

"Can't jack in without a hard-line, remember?" Cossack slumped in the chair, watching the codes moodily.

"Unless we borrow someone else's?" suggested Lep after a pause.

"Like that Sparrowhawk guy?" Jack said. "He's not in, he probably wouldn't mind."

"His flat is hard-line rigged?" chirped Lep, disbelievingly.

"Yeah - God knows how he managed it. We could have used him out here, why'd he have to take the bloody blue pill?" complained Cossack, settling the headset back on. "Shall I give him a ring?" He looked towards Lotus for confirmation.

Lotus shrugged. "Why not? Call him up."

Cossack made the hack, and the dial tone sounded for a long while.

Sparrow could hear the phone ringing and swore as he entered his flat, bolting for the phone. "I'm not home," he muttered, picking it up. "Romanov."

"Sparrowhawk. I have an offer for you." The voice on the other end held a trace of a Russian accent. He knew that voice.

"Cossack, you son of a bitch!"

"Shut up, this is important. We need to use the hard-line rig in your flat as soon as possible."

"Make it worth my while," came the cold reply.

"We'll buy your flat off you, for good money. We need somewhere quiet, and your place is perfect."

"Cash?"

"Whatever you want."

Lep nudged him, "You're sounding like an Agent," she whispered.

"Since when have Agents had Russian accents?" Jack asked.

Sparrow leaned against the wall. "Fine. But some of you are going to get hit."

"What do you mean?"

"You said I wouldn't remember anything, you bastard!"

"You weren't supposed to! Maybe that batch of pills was glitched, I don't know. I'm sending Jack in - don't leave the flat." Cossack hung up abruptly.

Sparrowhawk hung up the phone, muttering.

Lotus looked to the Operator. "What was that all about?"

"He remembers," answered Cossack quietly, running a search for the credit program. "He remembers everything."

Jack's eyes widened. "What? How?"

"Search me, my friend. Maybe the pills were glitched."

"That's impossible, isn't it?" questioned Lep.

"Ask the Frenchman when you go." Cossack looked pointedly at the two women.

"I'll do it," Lotus volunteered. Of them all, she was the only one who didn't harbour some sort of fear of him or his bodyguards. She didn't even fear the quiet Wingless, and though she never went so far as to touch the program, she could and did converse with him in her native Chinese.

"Good. I'm not even going to _look_ at him." Lep shivered.

Lotus gave her a curious look. "Why not?"

"He's... He knows too much." Lep fell silent, biting her lip.

Cossack raised an eyebrow. "D'you want to ask Quartz to go instead?"

"No, no, I'll go." Lep crossed to her chair. "I need to take my mind off... things."

Lotus reached out to squeeze the other girl's shoulder reassuringly. "We'll be fine, I promise."

Lep smiled dryly, a trace of her usual cheekiness seeping through. "Let's just get this over with."

Jack grinned at them both. "Just remember, your guardian angel is here to bail you out of any trouble you may find… even if it's a traffic ticket." Something occurred to him. "Wait. This Sparrow character is in England. The Frenchman is in the States. Cue transportation issues."

Cossack froze with his fingers over the keyboard. "Damn."

Lep kicked her chair in frustration. "We really are stranded, aren't we?"

"No, we're not," Lotus answered, moving from her chair to lean over Cossack's shoulder. "There's a hard-line in the Frenchman's buildings we can use. It's basically an 'emergency use only' type of thing, and I think this qualifies as an emergency. How long do we have until we need to refuel?"

Cossack checked. "About twelve hours, maybe less."

Lep grinned. "Breaking and entering, I like it. We'll have to make sure we're not discovered until we can run around and knock."

Lotus looked at Lep. "In the Frenchman's manor? Lep, he's the one who set up the emergency hard-line."

Lep threw her arms up, "Whatever! There's so much I still don't know about all this - I'm the newbie, remember?"

Cossack made a rare smile, alternately typing and looking at the screen, "You'll learn." He gave up and slumped back, "Okay Lotus, show me this hack. The encryption is foxing me." He slipped off the headset for a moment.

The Chinese girl leaned around the Russian, typing rapidly for a moment. "There you go," she told him, tousling his hair a little bit before going to her chair.

"_Spasiva_. Okay you two, plug in."

Lep vaulted into her chair, her nervous energy making her bouncy. "Whee!"

Jack shook his head as he went to plug her in. "Enjoy your trip, ladies; we'll work on buying our failed blue pill's apartment off of him."

Lep closed the doors of the elevator and slumped against the wall, itching the back of her neck. "Did I mention I hate going to see him?"

"Only a few dozen times. Look, Lep, if he bothers you that much, you don't have to go in with me. You can wait on the hundredth floor if you want to." Lotus told the older woman.

Lep sighed, "No, I'm sticking with you. I'm not hanging around here by myself." Although two years older than her companion, Leprechaun was more akin to a teenager. Lotus smiled. "Just one thing - don't let the werewolves get to you. They can smell fear, and they love to play 'fuck with the human's head'."

Lep shuddered. "Uugh... Mother always told me werewolves don't exist. Okay, I'm cool. He's just a program - the Matrix falls, he falls..." She dissolved into muttering such comforting thoughts to herself.

Lotus patted the shorter woman's hair comfortingly. "Just ignore them, and let me do the talking," she advised as the elevator doors opened on floor 101. She led the way down to the _maitre d'_, who asked without looking up, "_Puis-je_ _vous aider?"_

"We're here to speak with the Merovingian," Lotus said easily. He looked up, taking in the two women's clothing. His eyes narrowed, but he said, "Come zis way."

Lep followed the Chinese rebel through the foyer and into the restaurant itself, for once in a serious enough state to keep herself under control. Nothing would slip from her mouth today.

Lotus kept her head high; she recognised a few of the programs there. Hmm, no sign of Wingless today. That was probably a good thing, scared as Lep was of the Frenchman, odds were Wingless would terrify her.

He was good at that.

Another Asian, a program, nodded slightly to her as she passed, and threaded easily through the tables to the dais. He spoke briefly with an older man in an immaculate black suit, then drew back. The Merovingian stood up. "Ah, z' _fleur de lotus_ is back. Wiz company zis time?"

Lotus offered the Frenchman a courteous bow. "We've a problem that we thought you might be able to assist us with, if you're willing." Lotus knew full well that the Merovingian could talk rings about her. It was better to be honest with him from the get-go.

"You know z' way I work Lotus, I will need somesing in return. If indeed I do decide to 'elp you. Please, take a seat, both of you." The Merovingian's mind was racing. Rebels might be just the thing he was looking for.

Lotus nodded, sitting in the chair across from him. Lep took the chair across from Persephone, drawing Lotus' attention to a new program clad in white. It was a female program, relaxing in a chair just behind Persephone, but Lotus could tell from the slight tension in the small frame that she was a bodyguard. Interesting, but not really her concern. Her brown eyes flicked back to the Merovingian.

The Frenchman laced his fingers. "So, what is zis problem?" His intense blue eyes gazed calmly into hers. Casting a sidelong glance to the Irish chatterbox beside her, Lotus chose to speak in Chinese instead, knowing he could understand her. "_We got caught in an ambush, and our captain was killed. We have twelve hours before we need to refuel, and we can't get into Zion without the codes. We'd… prefer not to go to Canaan."_

Lep looked at her, a little hurt. Someone was going to be furiously quizzed when they got out.

The Merovingian paused for a minute, translating from the French, before replying in kind. _"So you would like me to provide you with a hack?"_

Lotus nodded. "_If it isn't too much trouble_."

_"I can do that - but I must ask something in return."_ The Merovingian lifted his eyes and looked beyond her. "Excuse me, for a moment, ladies," he said in English, standing.

Wingless stalked down the central aisle, gracefully sidestepping a cake-laden waitress. "I must speak with you, master."

Lep turned. "Who he?" she muttered.

"Wingless," Lotus muttered back. "Extremely dangerous. Whatever you do, don't piss him off."

Wingless nodded to Lotus with the same coldness he extended to everyone. "Mei-Lién." He ignored Lep completely, much to her relief.

"Can zis wait?" asked the Merovingian impatiently. "I am busy at z' moment." He gestured to the two women.

Wingless considered, then nodded once. "I will return later."

"Come to z' office after nine." Wingless bowed and melted back the way he had come. Lep exhaled loudly. Lotus squeezed the older woman's arm reassuringly. Wingless had that effect on people.

The Merovingian sat down again and raised a brow. "Somesing wrong?"

"Leprechaun hasn't met Wingless yet," Lotus replied.

The Merovingian gave a short laugh, "Oh yes, he has zat effect on people. Leprechaun, hmm? You are Irish?"

Lep squirmed slightly under the intense blue gaze. "Yep."

"Fantastic race, z' Irish. Wonderful curses... But I digress." He cast a sideways glance at Lep before lapsing easily into Chinese again. _"I will give you a hack to get back to Zion, if you will assist me in an equally small way."_

"_What way is that?"_

_"There are certain programs who made a promise to me which they have not kept. I want them found - I will reward you appropriately."_

Lep was getting fed up, and to her disbelief, her chatterbox side kicked in. "Hey, what's so important that I can't hear what's going on? I'm a rebel too, y'know!"

Lotus opened her mouth to reply that was precisely why she'd chosen to speak in Chinese, when an idea struck her. An idea that might just work. A slow smile crossed her face as she regarded Lep for a moment. "We may be able to help you with that," she told the Merovingian, not taking her eyes off the Irishwoman.

The Merovingian looked between the two of them. "Right... Well, I will prepare what you require. I will contact you in a day. Zen we will also discuss z' ozer side of z' bargain." His stare at Lep told Lotus not to bring the Irishwoman next time.

"I understand," she told him in answer to both spoken and unspoken commands, rising from her chair and bowing once more. She led Lep away, not looking back, despite a desire to.

The Merovingian signalled. "Tiger. Tell Vlad I would like to see him as soon as-- Tiger? Tiger!"

Tiger blinked rapidly and tore his gaze from Lotus' retreating back. "Yes?"

The Merovingian sighed. "Get me Vlad as soon as possible."

Tiger bowed and retreated hastily into the shadows, a faint blush creeping into his cheeks.

The Merovingian stared into space. Emotion. Emotion seemed to be like a virus infecting the Exiles - first him and Persephone, then Libra the new girl, then Wingless and now Tiger. Something would have to be done...


	7. Sixth

6

* * *

_He found it amusing that he had been cuffed _after _the flight to England, not during it. Had he been so inclined, he could have caused the men guarding him several problems._

_It was raining, he noted, though he'd heard that was a near-permanent weather condition in the former United Kingdom. The guards led him to a pillar, telling him not to run away while they ran his papers. He didn't even bother to ask them where was he going to go with handcuffs on. Eventually, he was led to a small room, and told to wait outside._

_Inside he could hear a man's voice, a slippery American accent. "I'm going to ask you again, and if you refuse to co-operate, I will have to persuade you to talk. What was your mother's screen name?"_

"_I don't know!" The reply was a girl's voice, English accented, shrill with worry and frustration. "I'd tell you if I knew! I want her back as much as you do!"_

"_Do you know her email address? Her passwords?"_

"_No! I -" The girl broke off with a gasp, as though she were in pain. _

_The male voice came again. "One last chance..."_

_The boy's eyes narrowed, and he rose to his feet. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was the fucking suits harassing kids. He tested the knob, and found that it was locked. Well, fuck that. He braced himself, then slammed his full weight against it, counting on the general flimsiness of government-funded buildings to work for him. _

_It did._

_The door fell off its hinges to reveal not one, but two suited tall men crowding around a girl, maybe eight or nine years old, her features marking her as half-Asian. The suited man released his grip on the girl's jacket and turned to face the vandal. The girl dropped onto the bench, her large dark eyes focused on him as well._

_His own eyes narrowed. "Hey, assholes," he snarled angrily. "Lay off th' kid, else I'll put ya through a hurtin' so bad yo' whole fam'ly'll feel it, cuffs or no cuffs."_

_The suited man's face remained impassive behind his shades. The girl blinked. The man put and hand to his ear piece and listened a moment, then nodded at his sidekick and strode out past him without another word._

_The kid slumped, exhaling unsteadily. "Thanks..."_

_He looked at her, noting tear-tracks on her face. A bit awkwardly - he wasn't used to kids - he walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, kid, don' worry. I'll keep ya safe, I promise."_

_The girl shot him a grateful look, scrubbing her eyes with her fists. "Who are you?" she asked presently. _

_He hesitated, wondering if she had noticed the cuffs. "Greene," he said at last. "Quentin Greene." _

_She offered her hand to shake. "I'm Arin White. Pleased to meet you, Quentin." _

_After another moment's hesitation, he took her small hand in his right hand, wincing as his left hand followed the right. "Nice ta meetcha too."_

_She looked from the cuffs to his face. "Are you a convict?"_

"_Yeah," he said softly. "I was forced inta runnin' drugs. Back home, they don' really take that inta consideration," _'specially if you've a prior conviction_, he didn't add. _

_"That's horrible... Forcing people to do things is just wrong. Why do people never get a choice?" She seemed to be incredibly angry about something, but unsure of how to express it; her eyes shone with wetness in the dim light._

_Hesitantly, he looped his arms around her and gave her a gentle hug. "I was jus' dumped in a bad foster home. Victim o' circumstance. Don' cry, a'ight?" Casting about for a subject change, he asked, "They didn' hurt ya too badly, did they?"_

_She shook her head, "No, they were just questioning me about my mother, again. How does her screen name have any effect on the fact that she's gone?" She wiped her eyes, clenching her teeth to stop the flow. "She's gone, and I don't know why..."_

Screen name? Why in the hell would American suits want some British - or Asian - lady's screen name? _he wondered, keeping the girl in a gentle hug. He was surprised that nobody'd come to try and separate her from the 'dangerous criminal' yet. "'Again?' When'd she disappear?"_

_"Yesterday. When I woke up she was gone, and she's not come back yet. They had me in an interrogation thingy all day, and I had to sleep in the flat by myself." She shivered in his arms, instinctively clinging to the comfort. "My mum and dad are separated, so I suppose I'll have to move in with him and his girlfriend. But I don't want to."_

"_Well, I'd offa t' let ya stay wit' me, but I dunno what th' hell they're plannin' on doin' wit' me. I doubt they'd letcha stay wit' me anyway." He awkwardly stroked her dark hair. "But I'll try ta keep an eye on ya, if ya want."_

_She nodded, "Thank you. Somehow it just feels right..."_

_He smiled. "I know whatcha mean." He had since sat on the floor, leaning against the wall and waiting for someone to notice the door knocked from its hinges and the child hugging the convict inside. After awhile, her breathing became slow and even, and he realised she had fallen asleep in his arms._

Well, at least _somebody_ trusts me_, he thought, smiling a little._

* * *

Arin awoke as the jeep lurched to a halt in a deserted car park. A fine rain was falling; vapour obscured the windows. She nestled into Cue's enveloping arms and groaned sleepily. Cue was still asleep, though he had mumbled something along the lines of 'know what you mean.' In the passenger seat, Kitty looked at Aries, wondering where they were.

"Welcome to Cambridge," announced the blond program shortly, switching off the engine but leaving the battery running. The dash clock read 3:06. Aries shot a glance at the other program. "How are you doing for time?"

She checked her watch. "Pretty good; it's 10:06 or so in the evening back home." Cue had awakened when the engine stopped.

"We there yet?" he mumbled, still half-asleep.

Arin stirred, sitting up slightly. "Yep." She yawned, rubbing her eyes furiously.

Aries reached back and ruffled her hair. "Go back to sleep," he advised. "I'll contact Scorpius in the morning. There's not much to see here, anyway."

Cue was wide awake at the mention of his contact. "So we're staying with the jeep, then?" he asked. God, but his shoulder hurt. He should've swiped some pain meds when they left the hospital. Hell, he was surprised they'd let him walk out with Arin without trying to force him into a wheelchair. It seemed to be a rule in hospitals worldwide that patients couldn't walk out: someone might think they were cured.

Aries flicked on the radio, which cut in to the middle of a news report. "... in Namibia. Robert White was trampled to death whilst filming a riot in the capital city of Windhoek. Sarah Henderson has the full report from Namibia..."

Arin sat up very suddenly, the colour draining from her face. A female voice went on, "The BBC cameraman was part of a convoy of journalists sending regular reports of the disturbances here. When the riot broke out early yesterday evening, Mr White was in the thick of it. It is believed that..."

Aries switched it off quickly, seeing Arin's face. "What is it?"

Cue's eyes were wide. "Robert White is her father."

Arin couldn't look at anyone. "That's not true," she whispered, "It can't be..." Kitty had swivelled in her seat to look at the girl; Cue's hold on her tightened. First Calloway and Wingless, and now this…

Arin was shaking her head, her mind trying to comprehend what the reporter had said. "It's not true," she repeated, biting her lip.

Aries stared straight ahead: a youngster about to go into shock was not something he was experienced in dealing with. He reasoned it would fade. Eventually.

Cue shifted in his seat, gently cupping Arin's face in his hands. "Look at me," he ordered her softly. "It is true, or it wouldn't have made an early-morning news report. I hate to say it, but he's gone, kid."

Arin dropped her gaze from his eyes. "It's too much. Miss Calloway's kidnap, Wingless at the flat, and now this..."

He gripped her chin and tilted her head up until she was looking at him again. "I told you to look at me, Arin. Things like this can and do happen all at once. It's just bad luck that it's all happening to you. That doesn't mean you can deny it, kid. Shit happens, and there isn't much we can do other than accept it and move on. Welcome to the real world."

Aries and Kitty exchanged a glance.

Arin blinked; a tear fell from her eyelashes and slipped down her cheek. Eventually she nodded.

The light rain had grown heavier, hammering down on the jeep. Arin pressed her fists into her eyes, resolving not to cry. There was no point: crying wouldn't help. She blinked bright patches of colour from her vision and took a deep breath. "Thanks, Cue."

He nodded, releasing her chin and pulling her into a protective hug. She still had him, at least.

Kitty looked at Aries. "Now what?" she asked quietly.

Aries shrugged. "We could go for a walk, I suppose." He peered out at the rain. A thought struck him, "Where did that Sparrow character get to? He was supposed to catch us up..."

Cue heard that. "As if the songbird would leave his precious computer behind for the Feds to look at? He's probably packing essentials and getting rid of the flat."

"Getting rid?" echoed Aries curiously. "Selling it on, you mean?"

"Yeah. That may take him a bit, though; he'll be wanting cash. Cheaper for the buyer, but harder to gather the money. Sparrow's very careful to not leave paper or electronic trails."

"Sounds like someone who prefers to stay away from law enforcement," Kitty mused.

"Yeah, that's him to a T."

Briefly wondering where on earth that expression came from, Aries looked into the back again. "How's your shoulder doing?"

"Let's just say I should've swiped some pain meds and leave it at that," Cue replied, looking worriedly at Arin.

Arin raised her head, "Kathryn, check the glove compartment for pain-killers."

"Call me Kitty, everyone does," she said as she opened the glove compartment, muttering something about the wrong side as she did. "Well, I'll be damned." She removed a tube of ibuprofen from it and passed it back. "Prescription stuff; should be strong."

Cue took one gratefully, then looked at the bottle. "Shit."

"What?" Arin looked from him to the bottle and back again.

"We borrowed this sucker from a runner. I recognise the signs." He grinned. "Serves 'em right for busting my chip."

"So this jeep was used by drug runners?" repeated Aries incredulously.

"Small world," muttered Arin.

"Yeah. And that doesn't mean that they were from the group that had me, Arin. Odds are they aren't; that group's been broken up and either deported or tossed in hard labour camps."

"So that might not be painkiller?" asked Arin, squinting at the pills.

"Oh, they're painkillers all right. But it ain't nobody's ibuprofen." He thought for a moment. "Oxycodone," he said at last. "Bad, bad runners… if taken wrong, this stuff can be lethal."

Kitty whirled in her seat, staring at him with wide eyes; before Arin could say anything, he added, "Relax, it's a swallow-pill, and I swallowed it. However, to be on the safe side, I'm gonna need some water."

Arin leant over to dig in her rucksack, and produced a half-full bottle of Evian. She passed it to him, "Tap water okay?"

"Perfect."

Kitty watched Cue curiously as he drained the bottle in two gulps, then asked, "How'd you know all that?"

He shrugged. "Used to be a runner. They hammered all that junk into us in case we ever took it into our heads to start experimenting. Kid ODs, there's gonna be questions. They were covering their asses."

"They de-chipped you?" questioned Aries. They had time to waste; he might as well find out more about them.

"Later, when I was sixteen. For some reason, they decided they wanted me back and so they came to Britain to get me. I don't like talking about it." And for good reason, too - the bastards had nearly killed Arin.

"You were forced into drug running?" Aries shot a concerned glance at Arin, who was curled up against Cue and shivering slightly. "Are you cold?"

Arin looked up after a beat, shaking her head. "Not really."

Nevertheless, Aries flicked the heater on the second setting, and warm air streamed through the vents.

"It's a long story," Cue said, "and it's all in the past, anyway." A not-too-subtle hint to drop it.

Aries took the hint with a quick flick of his brows.

* * *

The transaction completed, Sparrowhawk watched the man who called himself Jack vanish. The rebel glared at him as he did so, his left eye black and swollen. Sparrow had meant what he'd said about one of them getting hit. He'd backed up his information to a single waterproof flash drive, which he then stored in a pocket inside his vest before wiping his computer clean. As an extra precaution, he reformatted the hard drive as well.

Sparrow was not taking _any_ chances.

Arin's slice of pizza had hovered above the carpet for going on three hours. Unfortunately, the sugar packet was less lucky. It dropped from the ceiling where the girl had slung it and burst, spilling sugar over the linoleum.

"_Solkin syn!!"_ Sparrow kicked the pizza slice from the air and caught it in his hand so as not to look entirely suspicious. "_Now_ what!?"

The front door lay in a splintered mess on the floor, otherwise the three suited men would have knocked. As it was, the leader stepped into the room, his shoes thudding on the wood. "Mikhail Romanov?"

He glared at them all. "It's two-freaking-thirty in the morning," he growled, a Russian tinge to his accent now. "What the hell could you possibly want?"

"Please, Mr Romanov, this is an emergency. A file recently downloaded by an acquaintance of yours contained a very dangerous Trojan attachment. We need access to your computer."

One of the three stalked across to the window and peered out, feigning boredom. The other remained in the doorway, while the first started towards the computer.

He tried, he really did, but he just couldn't stifle his derisive snort. "Do you _really_ want to play that game with me?"

The suit looked at him, his expressionless face creasing into a slight frown. "Mr Romanov, you will appreciate our concern for the safety of the country. I will be checking this computer." His gaze slid to the slice of pizza in Sparrow's hand.

"What? I had a late night, I got hungry. That a crime?" Sparrow's eyes were narrowed, noting that one suit had blocked the window while the other was lingering in the doorway. Escape routes cut off… though the kitchen window might work, if he were to go _up_…

The lead suit resumed his course towards the computer, daring Sparrow to resist. "Have you made any phone calls tonight, Mr Romanov?"

"A few," he said evasively. "But I've got a cable modem anyway, not dial-up; what have my phone calls to do with my computer?"

"We have reason to believe you are connected with an extremely dangerous group of people." The suit took a seat on the swivel chair and booted up the PC. "Once the Trojan is destroyed, we will require to talk to you about certain... events." Once more, the suit glanced to the pizza, then to the spilt sugar.

Warning bells went off in Sparrow's head. "Really," he drawled.

"We have also received a report that indicates your flat was broken into at around eleven-forty."

"Yeah, well, it's been a bitch of a night." He glared pointedly at his lack of a front door.

"Not that event, Mr Romanov." The suit opened up an MS-DOS window and entered a long and complex command. "I refer to the stabbing of your flatmate, one Quentin Greene. The attacker is of great interest to us - we would be especially glad if you would answer a few questions."

"I'm really not in the mood for an interrogation," he said, stalling a bit. Fuck Wingless, anyway. "And I wasn't there when it happened. I just got a call from the hospital telling me that he'd recover."

The Suit turned back the screen, and hammered the keyboard rapidly. "Hmmm. Well it seems, Mr Romanov, that your hard drive has been formatted." He swivelled again and stood. "It seems we were too late to catch the Trojan; however..." The gaze flew again to the sugar. "There are still questions we need to ask you."

"Well, if I'd known you were coming, I'd've tidied up the place," he quipped, his eyes flicking between the trio. His fight-or-flight instinct had kicked in, and _fight_ had been burned out of him years ago.

The Suit stood, powering down the computer. "Have you previously noticed anything strange about your telephone line, Mr Romanov?"

The suit at the door moved to examine the cordless set-up on the table.

_Free path_.

Sparrow bolted, checking his vest pocket to be sure he still had the flash drive as he went. He was tall, but he had quick-enough reflexes to avoid being grabbed.

The first suit's hand flew to his earpiece, and within three seconds he was out of the doorway, closely followed by his companions. They charged after Sparrow with the kind of agility men only dream of.

Well, that confirmed his theory that these guys were programs. Sparrow didn't bother with several of the bottom steps for the three landings, just jumping in order to gain distance.

The suits barely slowed; one of them vaulted a banister entirely to gain an extra flight of stairs.

_Shit!_ Sparrow burst out the door, glad he'd thought to park nearby. He slid into the driver's seat and started the car, tearing out of the parking lot before he thought to close the door. "Catch me now, why don't you?" he muttered.

Rule one: never tempt fate when Feds are around.

Sparrow learned this very quickly as his rear tyres were punctured by a hail of well-aimed bullets from three semi-automatics.

"Fuck _me!_" He managed to keep the car from off-roading, but it was a near thing. Oh, he was screwed… unless he could get to the water. It was a last-ditch plan, and not very bright, but he had no other choice. If he could keep from losing control for five minutes…

Behind him, the black Sedan came to life. More gunshots sounded, and bullets punctured the rear of the Corvette. Sparrow instinctively ducked. It looked like he'd need a new car, too. Bastards. Fighting his protesting vehicle, he drove towards the Thames, hoping it would last him long enough.

The driver held a hand to his ear piece again, then spun the car onto the pavement. The three of them got out in sync and simply watched the battered Corvette on its route towards the river.

Sparrow stopped the car, wondering why they'd stopped chasing him. He stumbled out, nearly cracking his head on the top of the door frame, and paused to take a breather. "Jesus," he muttered. "Welcome to the Twilight Zone."

The river was calm, sloshing gently against the concrete banks. The sound of accelerating footsteps echoed down the alley. "_Scheiße," _he hissed. "Don't they ever give up?" He looked towards the river, then back towards where the sedan had stopped. The suited men broke into a sprint, appearing from the gloom like avenging angels. Their guns were holstered, though.

Sparrow made a snap-decision and jumped.

He didn't count on catching his shoe on the low fence, causing him to hit his head on the concrete before his body rolled into the water. The blow was enough to knock his glasses from his face and knock him unconscious; his scrawny frame sank slowly out of sight.

The three Agents slowed to a stop and watched him sink into the murky water. "Estimated river depth?"

"Five-point-seven metres."

"He will drown then."

"Hopefully."

"What about the hard line?"

"We will deal with that later."

They turned away from the Thames and set a course back to the car.

Sparrow's limp form sank beneath the river, bumping gently onto the bottom. Precious air bubbled up from inside his clothing.

From the other bank, something stirred in the water, tendrils of weed wafting in the current. It propelled itself easily across the width of the river and studied him curiously. It tugged on his arms, swimming upwards, persuading him gently towards the surface.

His head broke the surface, and his unconscious body seemed to recognise that it could again breathe; his mouth opened and air rushed into his lungs. His eyelids fluttered, he seemed to be regaining consciousness.

Sparrow was hoisted back out onto the bank, one arm draping into the water. A face peered at him from the water level: two large, almond-shaped eyes set in a strangely bluish face. Slowly, his own grey eyes opened, blinking twice before focusing on her face. "S'all blurry," he mumbled in German, then coughed.

The face tilted to the side as she translated, then she grinned and replied in French-accented German. "Are you all right?"

He nodded and winced. "Head hurts…"

She laughed - a sound curiously akin to running water. "You had a bad fall. You were being chased, right?" Her eyes intensified, focusing on his face.

Chased… yes, that was right… three men in suits… Agents!

His brain lurched into gear as he sat up quickly. "Shit! The Agents-- !"

She reached up with long arms and grabbed him, "Calm down! They left after you fell in." She released him and folded her arms on the bank. The cold air spread goose bumps over her bare arms, and long dark hair spilled over her shoulders in loose waves.

Sparrowhawk let out a long breath, then winced and put a hand to his aching head. "Ow, ow, ow…" He looked at the girl, wondering why she was blurry, then blinked and touched his face. "Aw, shit," he observed. His glasses were gone.

"Do you need these?" She sounded puzzled, and a little disappointed. She held up him glasses; a crack ran through the right hand lens from the fall. He squinted, then grabbed. "Yes, thank you." He put them on, glared at the crack, and closed his right eye before looking at her.

Her eyes went wide, and she blushed. With the world in focus, her face was rounded and finely featured, almost Asian. Her skin gleamed with water in the dim light; a pale blue colour. She wore no visible clothing to speak of...

Sparrow blinked, coughed, and politely kept his eyes on her face. "I'm called Sparrowhawk," he said, offering her a hand.

Her touch was cold and slightly clammy. "My name is Shasa."

"Pretty name," he said offhandedly. "I owe you my life, Shasa. Thank you."

She averted her eyes and flushed again. "It was nothing; I couldn't have you drowning in my river, could I?" Immediately, her gaze flew to his face, while her hand flew to her mouth. "I mean..."

"Your riv…," he gave her a closer look. "Oh. Damn, you people are everywhere tonight."

"You _know_?" She flicked her tail excitedly. Not often did the river program meet an ex-battery...

He nodded. "I know a lot more than I should." He shot a glance to his aching right hand, which he'd bruised punching Jack in the face. Damn, but that'd felt good.

The mermaid tilted her head again. "So what are you going to do now, Sparrowhawk?"

He frowned. "Walk, I guess. The Agents trashed my ride."

"Walk where?"

"No idea. Somewhere far from London; city isn't safe anymore. Eh, never liked it anyway."

"You could follow the river," suggested the program, non-too subtly.

Sparrow considered this. The river didn't go the way he was heading, but if he did follow it, it could throw the Agents off Cue's trail… and he did owe his flatmate. "Why not? It's as good a route as any."

Shasa grinned in the eerie reflected light from the water. "I'll come with you. It gets very lonely down here most nights..."

_Ooookay… nice girl, but I'm going to have to ditch her_, Sparrow thought, eyeing her. _Too dangerous for Ariel there to be liking me as much as she seems to._

The mermaid didn't seem to notice his unease - rather her flirting intensified. She vanished into the water, and then surfaced in a dolphin-leap. "Very nice," he said, his eyes darting about to see if she'd been noticed. He didn't want to be responsible for someone getting killed - directly, anyway.

"Thank you." Luckily the river banks were deserted. A decent distance further down the river, the bells of Big Ben clumsily rang the hour. Two-forty-five am. The program stuck her head up. "Happy Sunday, Sparrowhawk!"

"Happy Sunday," he replied distractedly, patting his vest. Good, he still had his flash drive, but his book was…

He pulled the paperback out and looked at it mournfully. "Ruined."

"Awww…" _Drat - a bookworm. How's he supposed to dote on me when he has fictional characters to worship?_ Shasa went into a slight huff, and remained silent for a good few minutes.

Sparrow scarcely noticed. He almost tossed the book back into the river but checked himself, recalling his flirty, aquatic saviour might not appreciate that. With a sigh, he tossed it in the dustbin and made a mental note to get a new one ASAP. "Time to head out, I suppose."

"Head out?" she echoed, stopping abruptly.

"You know, start moving," Sparrow said, looking at her. "I'd rather not stay here and get attacked by Agents again." He'd taken off his vest, slipping the flash drive in his pants pocket when she wasn't looking, and was now wringing the water out of it.

Shasa stared at, and then through, the transparent white material, her mouth dropping slightly open. "Will you not hide in the river?" she asked, attempting and failing to keep the desperation from her voice.

"If need be. I don't swim well, and humans aren't meant to stay in the water for prolonged periods of time."

"So you will?!"

"If Agents show up. I need to dry off, and like I said, staying in the water too long could have some adverse side-effects on me." _Wingless is almost preferable in comparison to this girl… dear God, how long has she been alone?_

"I'll wait for you. Take care!" Shasa blew him a watery kiss.

He waved a bit and started walking, mumbling under his breath.

Shasa waved him off, an uncharacteristically thoughtful expression on her features. Then she dived easily and disappeared.

She swam quickly through a large pipe and broke the surface of the water. The pipe had originally been waste disposal, but Thames Water soon stopped that. There was a small shelf of concrete here, and the mermaid heaved herself up onto it. She grabbed the mobile phone and dialled her employer.

"_Allo?"_

"It's Shasa; a human named Sparrowhawk has just evaded Agents by jumping into the Thames. He's now following the river east."

"_Bon travail_, Shasa! Follow him as much as you can, then report back to me. I'm sending someone over there now to help you."

Shasa grinned slyly, and hung up.


End file.
